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REV.  JOHN  FISKE,  D.  D. 


ELIZABETH  FISKE. 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  OBSERVANCE 


One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary 


OF   THE   INCORPORATION   OF   THE 


TOWN  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE,  MASS. 


JUNE   1!»,    1901 


CONTAINING   THE    HISTORICAL  ADDRESS  BY  GEORGE  K.  TUFTS,   M.   A. 
AND  OTHER  SPEECHES  AND  EXERCISES  OF  THE  OCCASION. 


17j1 1901. 


WORCESTER,    MASS.: 

PRESS    OF    CHARLES    HAMILTON, 

No.    311    Main    Street. 

i  y  o  2 . 


MEMORIAL. 


The  warrant  for  the  annual  town  meeting,  held  March  4, 
1901,  contained  the  following"  article:  "To  see  if  the  town 
will  observe  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its 
incorporation  and  appropriate  money  therefor."  The  follow- 
ing action  was  taken  on  this  article: — 

Voted,  "To  observe  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  incorporation  of  this  town  and  appropriate  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  for  that  purpose. 

"  Voted,  and  chose  George  K.  Tufts,  J.  Thomas  Webb,  Herbert 
L.  Pollard,  Horatio  Moore,  Henry  H.  Bush,  William  Bowdoin, 
1).  Clarence  Wetherell,  John  O'Brien,  James  E.  Barr,  Luther 
Crawford  and  Charles  A.  Gleason,  a  committee  to  carry  into 
effect  the  provisions  of  this  act."  This  appropriation  was 
afterwards  increased  to  three  hundred  dollars. 

This  committee,  which  constituted  the  committee  of  arrange- 
ments, met  March  23d,  and  organized  with  choice  of  George 
K.  Tufts,  chairman,  D.  Clarence  Wetherell,  secretary,  and 
J.   Thomas  Webb,   treasurer. 

George  K.  Tufts  was  unanimously  chosen  to  deliver  the 
historical  address,  and  Hon.  Charles  A.  Gleason  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  day. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  the  committee  appointed  June 
19th  as  the  day  for  the  observance,  and  adopted  the  following 
form  of  invitation  to  be  sent  to  all  known  natives  of  the  town 
former  residents,  and  their  descendants. 


4  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

FORM  OF  INVITATION. 

New  Braintree,  Mass.,  May,  1901. 
The  year  1901  marks  the  completion  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
of  the  corporate  existence  of  this  town.  An  event  of  this  nature  ought 
not  to  pass  unobserved.  Its  occurrence  should  be  made  the  occasion 
for  the  renewal  of  old  associations,  the  strengthening  of  the  ties  that 
bind  us  to  the  ancient  hearth-stones,  and  gaining  a  better  knowledge 
of  our  heritage,  at  once  a  source  of  gratitude  for  the  past  and  of  in- 
spiration  for  the  future. 

To  this  end  the  citizens  of  New  Braintree  invite  the  co-operation, 
by  their  presence  and  participation  in  its  exercises,  of  all  natives  of 
the  town,  former  residents,  and  their  descendants,  in  an  appropriate 
observance,  on  Wednesday,  the  19th  day  of  June  next,  of  the  com- 
pletion of  a  century  and  a  half  of  the  life  of  the  town. 

At  10  30  a.  m.     Public  Exercises,  including  an  Historical  Address, 
in  the  Church. 
1.00  p.  m.     Dinner  in  the  Town  Hall. 

2.00    "  Social  Reunion  at  the  Church,  with  five    to  eight 

minute    speeches    from    former   residents   and 
invited  guests. 


Committee  of  Arrangements. 

George  K.  Tufts,  Horatio  Moore,  D.    Clarence    Wetherell, 

J.  Thomas  Webb,  William  Bowdoin,  John  O'Brien, 

Herbert  L.  Pollard,  Henry  H.  Bush,  James  E.  Barr, 

Luther  Crawford,  Charles  A.  Gleason. 


At  subsequent  meetings  it  was  voted  to  have,  in  addition 
to  the  literary  and  social  features  of  the  occasion,  a  baseball 
game  at  4  p.  m.,  and  to  close  the  exercises  of  the  day  with 
a  grand  concert  and  ball  in  the  evening  at  the  Town  Hall; 
to  engage  Battery  B  Band  of  Worcester  to  furnish  music 
both  day  and  evening;  and  to  invite  the  following  persons 
to  be  the  guests  of  the  town  for  the  clay: — 

Hon.   George   F.    Hoar,    V.   S.   Senator. 

Hon.  William   M.  ( )lin,  Secretary  of  State. 

Ex-Gov.   D.   Henry  Chamberlain,   representing  the  Quaboag   His- 
torical  Society. 

'the   Chairman   of  the   Selectmen   of   the   Town   of    Braintree. 

Timothy    Paige,    Esq.,    Town   Clerk,    and    Samuel    S.    Dennis, 
Esq.,  Chairman  of  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of  Hardwick. 


MEMORIAL. 

Hon.  E.  B.  Lyndo,     representing  the  town  of  W.  Brookfiekl. 

Hon.  Geo.  W.  Johnson,       "  "     Brookfield. 

Robert  Batehelder,  Esq.,    "  "  "     N.  Brookfield. 

Hon.  Ledyard  Bill,  "  "  "     Paxton. 

Hon.  Wilson  H.  Fairbank,"  "     Warren. 

Dea.  Jesse  Allen,  "     Oakham. 

Albert  W.  Curtis,  Esq.,       "  "     Spencer. 

Hon.  T.  P.  Root,  "  "  "     Barre. 

Dr.   Emerson  Warner,   of  Worcester. 

Henry  K.  Hyde,   President  of  Ware  Bank. 

Walter  Allen,   Esq.,   of  Newton. 

Rev.  Nathan  Thompson,  of  Cheltenham,  Md. 

Rev.  Charles  S.   Brooks,  of  Wellesley. 

Rev.  Jeremiah  Healey,  of  Gloucester. 

Rev.  Henry  M.   Penniman,  of  Berea  College,   Ky. 

Rev.  Michael  T.  O'Brien,  of  Worcester. 

Rev.  Geo.  P.  Merriam,  of  Springfield. 


Further  assignments  by  the  committee  were: — 

Chief  Marshal. — John  O'Brien. 

Aids. — Horatio  Moore,  Henry  H.  Bush,  David  M.  Rixford, 
Charles  W.  Tyler,  Frank  H.  Hair. 

Reception  Committee. — William  Bowdoin,  J.  Thomas  Webb, 
Herbert  L.  Pollard,  James  E.  Barr. 

Committee  on  Decorations. — Misses  Helen  Utley,  Mabel 
Snow,  Florence  Cota. 

Ushers. — D.  Clarence  Wetherell,  William  F.  Pollard,  Edwin 
L.   Havens. 

Floor  Director  of  Ball. — John  O'Brien. 

A ssistant. — Frederic  Crawford . 

Aids.— Charles  H.  Barr,  Charles  W.  Tyler,  Frank  W.  Potter, 
Harry   I).   Pollard,  Geo.    F.   Cota. 

Caterer. — Charles  A.  Felton. 

A  badge  for  general  distribution  was  also  chosen,  consisting 
of  a  medal  on  which  was  the  device  of  the  town  seal  with  a 
background  of  silk  ribbon  of  red,  white  and  blue,  with  date 
and  nature  of  celebration. 

The  following  programme  for  the  day  was  adopted. 


ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAIXTREE. 


1751    1901 


V 


One  fiundred  and  fiftieth  Anniversary 

Of  the  Incorporation  of  tfie 

Cown  of 
Hew  Braintree,  Massachusetts, 

Wednesday,  June  nineteenth. 
1901 


' ^y\ji  o3 


MEMORIAL.  , 

Programme. 

Concert  by  Battery  B  Band*  Worcester,  9.30  a.  m. 
Exercises  in  Church,  10.30  a.  m. 

Order  of  Exercises. 


MUSIC. 

2.  READING  OF  SCRIPTURES,  The  XCth.  Psalm, 

AND  PRAYER, 

Rev.  F.  H.  BOYNTON 

3.  ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME, 

President  of  the  Day,  Hon.  CHARLES  A.  GLEASON 

4.  HYMN.  Tunc,  "  Duke  Street  " 

O  God,  beneath  thy  guiding  hand, 

Our  exiled  fathers  crossed  the  sea, 
And  when  they  trod  the  wintry  strand, 

With  prayer  and  psalm  they  worshipped  thee. 

Thou  heardst,  well  pleased,  the  song,  the  prayer, 

Thy  blessing  came;    and  still  its  power 
Shall  onward  through  all  ages  bear 

The  memory  of  that  holy  hour. 

What  change!    through  pathless  wilds  no  more 

The  fierce  and  naked  savage  roams; 
Sweet  praise,  along  the  cultured  shore, 

Breaks  from  ten  thousand  happy  homes. 


8  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

Laws,  freedom,  truth,  and  faith  in  God, 

Came  with  those  exiles  o'er  the  waves, 
And  where  their  pilgrim  feet  have  trod, 

The  God  they  trusted  guards  their  graves. 

And  here  thy  name,  0  God  of  love, 

Their  children's  children  shall  adore. 
Till  these  eternal  hills  remove, 

And  spring  adorns  the  earth  no  more. 

5.    HISTORICAL  ADDRESS,  GEO.  K.  TUFTS,  M.  A. 

MUSIC. 
1.00  p.  m.    DINNER  AT  TOWN  HALL. 

ORDER  OF  PROCESSION. 

Marshal  and  Aids 

Music 

President  —  Historian  —  Clergy 

Invited  Guests 

Former  Residents  and  their  Descendants 

Citizens  from  abroad. 

Committee  of  Arrangements 

Citizens  of  New  Braintree 

2.00  p.  m.    BAND  CONCERT. 

2.30  p.  m.    SOCIAL  RE-UNION  at  the  Church, 

With  five  to  eight  minute  Speeches  from  former  residents 
and  invited  guests. 

6.30  to  7.30  p.  m.    BAND  CONCERT. 

THE  COLONIAL  ROOM  in  the  Town  Hall, 

Containing  Relics  and   Antiquities,  will  be  open  from 
J. 00  to  2.30  p.  m. 


MEMORIAL.  9 

The  day  of  the  celebration  was  one  of  the  rarest  of  June 
days.  The  old  town,  freshly  ''dressed  in  living  green,"  wel- 
comed back  its  sons  and  daughters,  and  the  strangers  within 
its  gates.  The  church  and  Town  Hall  were  tastefully  deco- 
rated within  and  without  with  flags  and  bunting,  and  the 
other  buildings  and  private  dwellings  in  the  centre  and  many 
on  the  outskirts  likewise. 

No  fakirs  were  allowed  on  the  grounds.  A  large  annex 
to  the  Town  Hall  was  built  for  the  better  entertainment  of 
the  evening's  guests.  Sets  of  eight  views  of  the  scenes  were 
taken  by  W.  G.  Rixford,  ami  sold  rapidly  afterward.  The 
number  present  was  variously  estimated  at  from  fifteen  hun- 
dred to  two  thousand.  The  exercises  in  the  church  began 
at  10.45  a.  m.,  and  were  carried  through  in  accordance  with 
the  programme  already  given. 


ADDRESS    OF  WELCOM  E 

BY  HON.  CHARLES  A.  GLEASON, 
President  of  the  Day. 


It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  it  becomes  my  privilege,  in 
behalf  of  our  citizens,  to  extend  to  our  visitors  our  most  cordial 
and  hearty  welcome. 

To  those  who  have  come  home  to  their  birthplace  and 
whose  early  life  was  spent  in  a  New  Braintree  home,  we  ask 
you  to  accept  our  tenderest  greetings. 

To  those  who  have  come  from  sister  towns  and  whose  neigh- 
borly interest  brings  you  here  today,  we  invite  you  to  share 
in  the  observance  of  this  occasion,  all  becoming,  for  the  day, 
active  participants  in  its  jo}^s,  social  reunions  and  sacred 
memories,  that  it  may  awaken  their  old  love  for  these  hills 
which  has  never  been  dormant,  renew  old  associations,  and 
strengthen  those  ties  which  bind  us  to  a  revered  ancestry 
and  our  native  soil. 

As  we  shall  unroll  the  scroll  of  our  history,  we  shall  come 
to  pages  which  will  be  filled  with  the  lives  and  labor  of  those 
very  near  to  us,  and  will  bring  to  us  a  keen  sense  of  loss. 

Let  us  today  turn  over  those  pages  quickly,  or  only  behold 
the  benefits  that  have  fallen  to  us  from  their  lives  and  give 
them  honor  for  their  faithfulness  and  achievement.  It  will 
be  our  delight  to  let  our  minds  rest  on  those  worthy  men  and 
women  of  our  earliest  remembrance,  who  were  leaders  in  town 
and  church,  as  our  historian  portrays  their  life  and  work,  and 
goes  back  very  far  beyond  our  memory  to  those  who  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  industrial,  civic  and  religious  life.  It  is 
with  no  little  pride  that  we  think  of  our  forefathers  who, 
with  rude  implements  of  husbandry,  made  these  farms  from 
the  forests,  removed  the  stumps  and  stones  from  the  land, 
built   walls,    houses    and    barns,    established    and    maintained 


CHARLES  A.   GLEASON. 


ADDRESS    OF    WELCOME.  11 

schools  and  erected  this  church,  all  at  so  great  cost  of  labor, 
with  none  of  the  wonderful  inventions  of  today,  run  by  horse, 
steam  or  electrical  power, — all  handwork. 

We  glory  in  this  age  of  invention  and  century  of  progress, 
but  I  am  sure  wTe  can  give  equal  if  not  greater  praise  to  our 
ancestors  for  their  persevering  industry,  boundless  courage, 
sterling  integrity  and  stalwart  character.  It  can  be  noted 
that  only  two  or  three  generations  ago  this  town  ranked 
high  with  any  town  in  this  county  in  wealth,  business  or 
influence;  that  many  of  the  successful  farmers  were  also 
capitalists  who  were  money  lenders;  and  when  her  leading 
men  held  high  positions  of  honor  and  influence  in  the  State. 
At  one  time,  if  I  am  correct,  this  town  the  same  year  furnished 
a  representative  to  the  General  Court,  State  Senator  and  a 
member  of  the  Governor's  Council  ;  at  that  time,  or  later, 
a  president   of  a  Ware  bank. 

At  that  time  these  pews  were  filled  with  large  families  of 
intelligent  worshippers  who  valued  the  privileges  of  religious 
teaching  in  the  church. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  it  has  been  strictly 
an  agricultural  town;  few  other  enterprises  have  gained  any 
foothold.  The  mill,  shop  and  factory  have  kept  beyond  its 
border.  The  railroad  and  electric  road  have  only  touched 
remote  corners;  no  minerals  have  been  dug  from  the  earth, 
but  year  after  year  the  earth  has  brought  forth  its  increase 
as  sure  as  summer  follows  winter,  and  its  cattle  have  been 
upon  a  thousand  hills. 

We  have,  all  of  us,  followed  the  plough,  swung  the  scythe, 
raked  the  hay,  husked  the  corn,  milked  the  cows  and  known 
the  farmer's  life  and  the  farmer's  fare;  and  through  all  the 
history  of  its  agricultural  products,  dairying  has  stood  first. 

In  a  room  in  the  Town  Hall  building  there  is  a  collection 
of  the  relics  of  the  first  part  of  the  last  century,  and  a  banner 
can  be  seen  which  was  carried  by  the  farmers  of  New  Braintree 
in  1840,  (hiring  the  exciting  Harrison  campaign.  I  hope  you 
will  look  at  it.  Not  on  account  of  the  quality  of  its  material 
or  its  artistic  design  (yet  it  was  well  designed  and  executed 
by  a  New  Braintree  boy),  but  as  perfectly  representing  the 
industry  that  was  carried  on  in   every  house  and  on  every 


12  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

farm  in  town.  It  is  a  picture  of  two  dairy  cheeses  piled  upon 
each  other,  with  a  piece  cut  from  one.  This  was  at  a  time 
when  the  making  of  domestic  cheese  was  near  its  height; 
when  a  man's  fortune  was  in  the  hands  of  his  wife  to  that 
extent  that  her  success  or  failure  to  make  good  cheese  was 
an  important  factor  to  his  success;  and  when  the  position  of 
a  farmer's  wife  meant  something  in  responsibility  and  care. 
If  it  was  a  position  of  honor,  it  was  likewise  a  position  of 
hard  work  that  truly  made  her  a  sharer  of  the  heavy  burdens 
of  farm  life. 

There  has  come  a  change  in  all  this.  The  Boston  milkcan 
has  supplanted  the  cheese-press;  farm  machinery  has  taken 
the  place  of  handwork:  but  I  will  not  speak  of  the  history 
of  this  change  or  tread  upon  the  ground  of  our  historian  (who 
is  so  eminently  fitted  to  give  it  in  full)  and  the  later  speakers 
of  the  day. 

But  I  want  to  welcome  you  back  to  these  hills,  especially 
those  who,  in  their  youth,  played  in  these  green  fields,  fished 
in  the  streams,  hunted  in  the  forests,  gathered  berries  in  the 
pastures  and  nuts  in  the  woods,  and  whose  feet  trod  the  streets 
to  the  district  school. 

Am  I  presuming  too  much  to  say  to  those,  that  here  on 
this  spot  the  air  is  purer,  the  sky  more  blue,  the  stars  shine 
more  brightly,  the  heavens  are  higher,  but  Heaven  nearer 
than  anywhere  else.  It  may  be  that  some  have  gone  to 
city  or  distant  State  and  been  obliged  to  use  poor  water,  have, 
like  David  of  old  who  thirsted  for  water  at  Bethlehem's  gate, 
thirsted  for  the  water  in  the  old  well  by  the  door.  Let  me 
say  to  you  that  the  water  from  these  springs  is  just  as  pure 
and  clear  and  refreshing  as  of  yore,  and  these  hills,  with  views 
so  picturesque,  with  air  so  bracing,  with  soil  so  fertile,  remain, 
and  whatever  other  changes  come,  will  continue  through  the 
ages.  Some  day,  perhaps,  after  we  are  through  with  them, 
these  farms  will  be  wanted;  these  locations  for  beautiful 
scenery  will  be  sought  for;  and  what  we  only  in  part  appre- 
ciate now  will  then  be  fully  prized  and   occupied. 

I  want  to  welcome  you  to  this  historic  town.  This  year 
we  pass  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  milestone  in  her  history. 
We  pause  for  a  day  to  do  honor,  in  memory  of  the  associations 


ADDRESS    OF    WELCOME.  13 

which  connect  her  with  our  lives.  The  history  of  any  com- 
munity is  what  the  character  of  its  homes  makes  it.  The 
homes  of  the  people  reflect  the  sentiment,  the  enlightenment 
and  the  progress  of  that  people,  and  on  the  conditions  that 
underlie  them  and  the  environment  that  surround  them  depend 
their  intellectual  and  spiritual,  even  more  than  their  material 
advancement. 

The  home  life  and  home  training  is  the  foundation;  civil 
government,  schools  and  churches  the  superstructure.  These 
homes  have  been  representative  New  England  homes,  where 
industry,  economy,  education  and  religion  have  been  the 
cardinal  principles  taught,  and  where  the  struggle  for  a  liveli- 
hood and  a  competence  has  brought  a  self-denial  which  has 
developed  character,  which  has  been  shown  in  the  town  history 
for  this  century  and  a  half.  The  standard  of  education  has 
been  high;  the  appropriation  of  money  for  schools  liberal; 
the  highways  have  been  kept  in  good  condition;  the  homes 
have  been  pleasant  and  attractive;  the  farms  well  tilled  and 
productive;  and  we  can  show  you  many  improvements, — 
among  them  a  convenient,  wTell  arranged  Town  Hall  building, 
well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  town ;  our  roads  kept  in  much 
better  condition  than  formerly;  telephone  communication; 
two  mails  daily  instead  of  one;  and  a  well-furnished  library. 

Last  and  most  of  all  I  want  to  welcome  you  to  this  church. 
What  more  fitting  place  to  sit  today!  The  one  church  of 
the  town  whose  spire  has  pointed  heavenward  through  all 
these  generations;  a  beacon  upon  this  hilltop  which  can  be 
seen  from  even  beyond  this  county.  A  substantial  building 
of  good  proportions,  it  has  rested  upon  a  solid  foundation. 
In  it  divine  truth  has  been  taught  and  able  and  devoted  men 
have  ministered,  who  have  stirred  the  people  to  a  higher  and 
holier  life.  We  can  almost  hear  today  the  voices  of  those 
who  spoke  from  this  pulpit  in  our  youth.  Many  of  our  asso- 
ciations centre  here. 

I  trust  the  exercises  of  the  day  may  be  enjoyable  to  all 
who  have  gathered.  As  we  revive  old  associations  and  renew 
acquaintance,  may  the  tie  be  closer  which  shall  connect  us 
to  our  native  town,  and  may  the  observance  of  this  day  inspire 
us  to  greater  devotion  to  her  future. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS 

BY  HON.  GEORGE  K.  TUFTS,  M.  A. 


We  arc  gathered  today  on  the  spot  devoted  for  nearly  a 
century  to  the  discussion  and  decision  of  all  the  public  questions 
of  a  New  England  town.  Here  roads  were  laid  out;  schools 
organized;  the  Church  formed  and  church  building  erected; 
ministers  heard,  called  and  ordained;  Jehovah  worshipped; 
National  and  State  matters  discussed.  Here,  upon  the  san  e 
table  from  which  were  dispensed  the  bread  and  wine  of  the 
Communion,  were  deposited  the  ballots  for  the  town  officers. 
Church  and  State  mingled  together.  Every  act,  from  the 
quality  of  the  shingles  on  the  roof  to  the  qualities  of  the  min- 
ister who  presided  beneath  it,  was  considered  with  the  same 
loyalty  to  detail,  the  same  grave  deliberation,  the  same  sense 
of  duty. 

A  portion  of  my  paper  of  this  morning  was  written  origi- 
nally for  publication  and  published,  but  not  in  a  form  accessible 
to  the  community  in  general;  to  nine-tenths  of  my  hearers 
it  will  probably  be  new;  and  upon  one-half  of  the  remaining 
tenth  who  may  have  read  it  in  its  published  form  its  contents 
will  have  made  so  little  impression  as  not  to  be  familiar  as 
a   whole. 

It  does  not  seem  to  us  that  the  life  which  we  represent 
now  in  all  its  intensity  and  diversity  will  in  a  short  time  be- 
come in  the  memory  of  man  as  though  it  had  never  been. 
Yet  it  is  thus  with  the  life  that  we  are  here  to  commemorate. 
It  is  a  bare  skeleton.  It  is  for  us  to  clothe  it  in  tlesh  and 
blood,  and  cause  it  to  move  in  living  form  before  us.  I  am 
not  here  to  read  a  treatise  on  the  underlying  principles  of 
New  England  government  or  give  an  analysis  of  New  Eng- 
land character,  justly  a  popular  theme  on  such  occasions. 
I   could  not  if  I   would  and  would  not  if  I  could.      I  am  here 


GEO.  K.  TUFTS. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  15 

to  tell  a  story,  to  me  an  old,  old  story,  that  has  never  lost 
its  freshness  through  years  of  familiarity.  It  may  seem  to 
you  a  very  common  story.  It  is  a  common  one.  Most  of 
our  life  which  is  most  vital  is  common;  yet  I  have  come  to 
hold  in  affectionate  regard  the  stained,  musty,  oft  mice-bitten 
pages  from  which  I  gathered  it.  Its  associations  are  sacred. 
It  is  the  story  of  the  life  of  your  ancestors  and  mine,  of  their 
hopes,  their  struggles,  their  failures  and  successes, — of  the 
men  and  women  who  cleared  the  land  we  now  occupy;  built 
and  beautified  their  homes;  founded  and  put  a  lasting  im- 
press upon  their  institutions;  reared  their  families;  sending 
many  of  them  to  enrich  other  communities  ;  and  by  courage, 
self-denial  and  a  loyal  adherence  to  their  own  sense  of  duty, 
very  often  stern  and  exacting  though  it  might  be,  conspired 
to  make  this  town  a  representative  New  England  town.  It 
was  to  the  influence  of  these  lives,  daily  lived  before  us,  during 
the  most  impressionable  years  of  ours,  that  we  owe  most  of 
what  we  are.  They  were  as  faulty  as  human  nature  averages, 
but  through  their  faults  we  learned  to  know  and  love  them, 
and  those  faults  appear  to  us  at  this  distance  to  be  only  false 
growths  on  sturdy  and  vigorous  stock,  which  either  rotted 
and  fell  to  the  ground  or  the  pruning  hand  of  time  lopped 
off. 

"These  local  annals  are  full  of  little  things,  names,  dates 
and  facts,  and  rumors  of  every  sort,  which  seem,  at  first  sight, 
almost  too  trifling  to  be  noticed;  and  yet,  not  only  is  it  true 
that  the  general  historian  must  essentially  depend  on  the 
local,  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  for  the  mass  of  loose 
seeds  from  which  the  spirit  of  his  narratives  should  be  labo- 
riously distilled ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  there  is  almost  always 
a  good  deal  of  that  spirit,  already  made,  in  such  material 
at  his  hand. 

"Many  of  these  little  things  which  we  speak  of  are  little 
only  in  size  and  name.  They  are  full  of  rich  meaning;  they 
are  graphic  and  characteristic  in  a  high  degree;  they  suggest 
far  more  than  they  say.  They  illustrate  classes  of  men  and 
ages  of  time.  They  are  small,  but  brilliant  lights  on  the 
walls  of  the  past,  pouring  floods  of  splendor  from  their  little 
niches   on   the   vast   abysses   around   them." 


16 


ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 


Introductory. — New  Braintree  is  nearly  in  shape  of  an 
isosceles  triangle,  with  sides  of  six  miles  and  base  of  nine, 
nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  State,  bounded  by  Oakham  and 
Barre  on  its  northeast  side,  and  Hardwick,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  Ware  River,  on  its  northwest  side,  and  by  Brook- 
field  and  North  Brookfield  on  its  base  or  south  line.  It  con- 
tains 20  square  miles.  The  surface  is  uneven  and  hilly.  Its 
highest  elevation  is  "Tufts  Hill,"  in  the  eastern  part,  1179 
feet  above  sea  level.  It  was  made  up  of  the  territory  of  three 
towns, — "  Braintree  Grant,"  a  tract  of-6000  acres,  lying  between 
Rutland  and  Brookfield,  designated  by  the  triangle  C  B  A 
on  the  annexed  plan;  all  that  part  of  Lambstown  (Hard- 
wick) east  of  Ware  River  marked  DEB,  and  about  1200 
acres  from  the  north  part  of  Brookfield,  south  of  line  O  M. 
That  part,  400  acres  north  of  Ware  River,  C  D  X ,  was  annexed 
to  Hardwick  in  1814.  N  is  the  common  land,  in  the  centre 
of  which  the  church  stands.  A,  point  of  intersection  with 
Spencer,  Oakham,  North  Brookfield;  E,  with  Ware  and 
Brookfield.     A    tract   of   320   acres,    lying   the   whole   length 


PLAN    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 


of  line  A  M,  and  omitted  by  error  in  original  survey,  was 
afterwards  given  to  John  Quincy,  Speaker  of  the  House,  and 
assigned  to   New  Braintree. 

Whitney  records  in  his  "History  of  Worcester,"  1796,  that 
before  its  settlement  fires  made  in  the  woods  had  destroved 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  17 

almost  its  entire  growth  of  wood  and  timber;  so  it  was  feared 
there  would  not  be  a  sufficient  supply  for  the  settlers,  but 
he  writes  that  "through  their  care  and  prudence  there  had, 
within  a  few  years,  sprung  up  fine  growths  of  wood."  At 
that  time  there  were  two  hills  of  note, — "Mohawk,"  probably 
"Cushman"  Hill,  and  "Rattlesnake's  Rocks,"  in  the  west 
part,  a  name  that  has  passed  away  with  its  occupants. 

Its  Indian  history  has  been  so  fully  discussed  by  the  Qua- 
boag  Historical  Society  during  the  past  few  years  as  to  render 
any  detailed  reference  to  it  of  mine  unnecessary.  The  Plain, 
stretching  for  a  distance  of  four  miles  from  north  to  south 
across  its  western  borders,  was  the  scene  of  the  "Wheeler" 
massacre  in  1675,  concerning  the  precise  locality  of  which, 
whether  at  "  Winnimisset "  or  "Nickaboag,"  as  Grindall 
Reynolds  has  well  said,  "the  best  judges  will  differ."  But 
the  location  on  the  same  plain  at  its  northern  extremity  of 
an  Indian  town  of  considerable  importance  and  a  military 
stronghold,  the  headquarters  and  chief  place  of  rendezvous 
when  Brookfield  was  destroyed,  is  now  fully  identified.  Even 
now   the   Indian   barns   can   be   readily   traced. 

Population. — The  population  of  the  town  at  the  date  of 
incorporation,  1751,  was  nearly  800.  There  were  then  45 
families.  Fourteen  years  later  it  had  more  than  doubled. 
In  1765,  there  were  9S  families,  94  houses  and  594  inhabi- 
tants, including  3  negroes.  In  1776,  its  population  was  798: 
its  valuation,  real  3226  pounds;  personal  1435  pounds;  num- 
ber of  polls  217;  217  head  of  cattle  and  horses;  rate  of  taxation 
ten  pence  per  pound;  and  only  one  man,  Henry  Penniman, 
taxed  for  money  at  interest,   150  pounds. 

Its  population  was:  in  1790,  939;  1800,  875;  1810,  912; 
1820,  888;  1830,  825;  1840,  752;  1850,  852;  1860,  805; 
1870,  640;  1880,  610;  1885,  558;  1900,  500:  highest  valua- 
tion,  1871,  $590,430:    number  of  head  of  stock,   1340. 

Whitney  writes  of  it,  in  1796,  "Excellent  for  grass  and 
good  roads;  its  homes  are  neat  and  commodious,  and  there 
is   much   travel   through   the   town." 

It  has  surely  gained  in  these  attractive  features  since  1795, 
and  added  on  miles  of  road,  lines  of  shade  trees  of  maple, 


18  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTRIOK. 

ash  and  elm.  "Though  little  among  the  thousands  of  Juda, 
yet  it  is  beautiful  for  situation." 

Braintree  Grant. — In  1666  the  freeholders  and  other 
inhabitants  of  Braintree.  in  town  meeting,  passed  the  follow- 
ing resolution:  "Whereas,  much  of  the  best  and  most  available 
arable  surface  is  held  by  non-residents  and  citizens  of  Boston 
as  a  matter  of  speculation  and  by  others  in  large  farms,  that 
it  is  a  source  of  great  inconvenience  to  the  permanent  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town,  as  they  in  their  poverty  are  not  able  to 
pay  the  high  rents  asked,  nor  the  necessary  expenses  of  the 
town;  therefore,  Resolved:  To  petition  the  General  Court 
for  an  additional  grant  of  land."  In  answer  to  this  petition 
the  court,  in  consideration  of  the  reasons  therein  expressed, 
judged  meet  to  grant  them  "sixe  thousand  acres  of  land  in 
some  place,  limited  to  one  place,  not  prejudicing  any  planta- 
tion or  particular  grant."  In  1670  Braintree  selected  a  tract 
lying  between  Braintree  and  Plymouth,  which  was  not  con- 
firmed by  the  court.  No  further  action  was  taken  until 
1679,  when  Braintree  again  petitioned  the  court  that  "since 
the  Lord  out  of  his  rich  grace  had  made  them  lords  of  the 
heathen  land"  (referring  to  their  victory  over  Philip),  "they 
might  have  an  opportunity  to  have  ratified  the  former  grant." 
In  answer  to  this  petition,  October,  1679,  the  court  allowed 
the  petitioners  "to  lay  out  their  sixe  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  any  vacant  place  within  the  Court's  jurisdiction."  Here 
the  matter  rested  for  thirty-four  years,  until  June,  1713, 
when  Braintree  chose  a  committee  to  ascertain  if  the  former 
grant  had  "lapsed,"  and  if  not,  to  find  and  lay  out  the  six 
thousand  acres  granted  in  1666,  and  do  what  is  needful  to 
be  done  in  the  space  of  one  year  and  have  for  their  work, 
if  effective,  thirty  pounds;    otherwise  nothing. 

The  treasurer  was  evidently  never  called  upon  to  pay  the 
money,  for  in  June,  1714,  we  find  Colonel  Edmond  Quincy, 
in  behalf  of  Braintree,  petitioning  the  court  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  surveyor  to  lay  out  the  land.  The  petition  was 
granted  and  a  surveyor,   Samuel  Jones,   Jr.,   appointed. 

December  17,  1715,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  it 
was  ordered  that  "a  Plot  of  six  thousand  acres  of  land,  lying 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  19 

in  angle  between  Brookfield  and  Rutland,  be  accepted,  and 
land  confirmed  to  Braintree  as  by  plan  annexed,  in  fulfillment 
of  original  grant."  This  six  thousand  acres  was  nearly  in 
form  of  a  right-angled  triangle,  with  right  angle  B  at  a  point 
just  southeast  of  the  present  residence  of  Alfred  Boyden; 
the  upper  acute  angle  C  included  the  farm  recently  occupied 
by  Colonel  Joseph  Robinson  in  Hardwick.  The  perpendicular 
B  C  of  the  triangle  is  identical  with  the  west  line  of  our  present 
common,  while  the  base  A  B  extended  to  O  would  be  iden- 
tical with  the  present  boundary  between  lands  now  owned 
by  Mr.  J.  B.  Fobes  and  Mrs.  8.  W.  Peckham.  For  twelve 
years  after  the  "Braintree  Grant"  was  confirmed,  it  was  a 
constant  source  of  contention  in  Braintree  town  meetings. 
A  vote  to  sell  it  would  be  passed  at  one  meeting,  only  to  be 
reconsidered  and  reversed  at  the  next,  and  sometimes  the 
same  meeting,  and  vice  versa.  No  rule  of  division  of  the 
land  could  be  agreed  upon.  A  question  arose  as  to  the  owner- 
ship, whether  it  belonged  to  the  town  in  its  corporate  capa- 
city, or  to  its  inhabitants  in  1666  (the  time  of  the  original 
grant)  and  their  posterity,  or  the  inhabitants  of  1715,  when 
the  grant  was  confirmed,  and  we  find  the  town  on  record 
at  different  times  as  in  favor  of  each  of  these  views.  Finally, 
in  1727,  a  vote  was  passed  that,  "  to  promote  peace,  the  land 
be  divided  as  equally  as  possible  between  the  two  precincts 
of  Braintree,  to  be  henceforth  managed,  improved  and  further 
divided  or  disposed  of  as  each  should  decide,  from  henceforth 
and  forever."  Here  "Braintree  Grant"  disappears  from  Brain- 
tree records,  and  does  not  again  reappear  until  1749,  when 
it  appeals  to  the  General  Court  to  be  admitted  into  the 
sisterhood  of  towns.  So  far  as  known  there  are  no  proprietors' 
records  in  existence. 

For  some  years  portions  of  the  "Grant"  were  used  for 
pasturing  stock  during  the  summer  season  by  residents  of 
Braintree,  and  hence  came  the  title  of  "Braintree  Farms." 

The  history  of  the  west  half  of  the  town  previous  to  in- 
corporation is  the  history  of  Hardwick  for  that  time.  The 
original  grant  to  the  proprietors  of  Lambstown  (Hardwick) 
had  for  its  eastern  boundary  Ware  River,  so  that  there  remained 
at  the  time  of  that  grant,  as  yet  unassigned,  the  territory 


20  ANNIVERSARY    OF   NEW    BRAINTREE. 

lying  between  Ware  River  and  Braintree  Grant.  This  territory 
the  proprietors  of  Lambstown  petitioned  the  General  Court 
June  15,  1733,  to  annex  to  them;  and  June  20,  it  was  so  an- 
nexed, the  boundary  being  thus  described,  "Beginning  at 
the  northeast  corner  of  the  tract  of  land  laid  nut  to  James 
Hovey;  thence  running  southerly  to  Brookfield  bounds; 
thence  east  to  the  southwest  corner  of  Braintree,  6000  acres; 
thence  northwest  by  said  6000  acres  to  Ware  River;  thence 
bounding  on  Ware  River  to  first  mentioned  point,  designated 
by  line  I)  E  B  on  the  plan;"  it  being  all  that  part  west  of  a 
line  running  north  and  south  and  passing  directly  through 
the  brick  store.  Lucius  Paige  in  his  history  of  Hardwick 
writes:  "At  the  time  of  this  grant  Lieut.  Eleazer  Warner 
resided  with  his  family  on  a  farm  given  him  and  his  wife  by 
her  father,  Thomas  Barnes  of  Brookfield,  in  1729,  and  in- 
cluded a  part  of  the  Winnimisset  swamp  and  upland  ;  the 
site  of  his  house,  a  portion  of  which  is  now  standing,  is  the 
present  residence  of  Luther  Crawford."  Mr.  Paige  further 
states  that  Mr.  Warner  was  probably  the  first  English  settler 
on  this  territory.  Mr.  Paige  further  states,  "  It  is  a  family 
tradition  and  so  stated  in  the  Massachusetts  Spy  of  Dec.  10, 
1817,  that  his  son  Wareham  Warner,  born  Nov.  1,  1730, 
was  the  first  English  child  born  in  wThat  is  now  New  Brain- 
tree." There  is  a  protest  taken  to  this  statement  by  the 
descendants  of  Joseph  Barnes,  who  claim  that  he  had  the 
honor  of  being  the  first  born  on  New  Braintree  soil.  If  Brook- 
field records  are  correct,  however,  his  arrival  was  twenty 
days  too  late  to   obtain   that  honor. 

The  first  occupation  of  what  is  nowT  New  Braintree  soil  by 
the  white  man  was  by  a  company  of  nine,  headed  by  Thomas 
Barnes  before  referred  to,  who  received  in  1704  a  grant  of 
forty  acres  of  woodland  as  an  encouragement  to  build  a  mill. 
This  mill  wras  built  in  1709  on  Sucker  Brook,  just  above  the 
bridge  east  of  Barr's  Pond,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  house 
of  Comfort  Barnes  on  the  knoll  opposite  the  house  of  Thomas 
Cooney  on  the  other  side  of  Sucker  Brook  was  built  soon 
after. 

March  20,  1749,  George  Shaw,  James  Robinson,  John  Wilson, 
.lames  Thompson,  Jona.  Cobleigh,  John  Blair,  Jacob  Nichols, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  21 

Jona.  Higgins,  William  Baxter,  Edward  Ruggles,  John  Barr, 
Roger  Sprague,  Abram  Joslyn  and  Andrew  Shaw  (total, 
fourteen),  all  occupants  of  Braintree  Farms,  with  John  Pea- 
cock, Joseph  Little,  Eleazer  Warner,  Beriah  Hawes,  James 
and  Edward  Blair,  David  and  James  Woods,  Matthew  Barr, 
Josiah  Benet,  Samuel  Steele,  David  Ayres,  Phineas  Warner, 
William  Anderson,  Israel  Day,  Samuel  Ware,  Hugh  Barnes 
and  Wareham  Warner  (total,  eighteen),  from  Hardwick,  east 
of  Ware  River,  and  Joseph  and  Jacob  Pepper,  and  Joseph 
Pepper,  Jr..  Moses  and  Obed.  Abbot,  David  and  Solomon 
Gilbert,  Joseph  and  Sarah  Barnes,  Thomas  Hammond,  Eben. 
Spooner  and  Roger  Haskell  (twelve),  from  the  north  part  of 
Brookfield,  met  and  chose  their  "well-beloved  and  faithful" 
friend,  James  Thompson,  to  convey  their  petition  to  the 
proprietors  of  the  land  known  as  "Braintree  Farms,"  that 
inasmuch  as  the  petitioners  make  a  body  large  enough  to 
support  the  gospel,  and  were  a  long  way  off  from  any  preach- 
ing, and  for  the  interest  of  said  proprietors,  they  would  unite 
with  them  in  a  petition  to  the  General  Court  to  be  set  off 
as  a  separate  district. 

Of  the  original  settlers  the  following  are,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  resident  descendants: 

Original  Settlers.  Descendants. 

David  Woods  Miss  L.   E.   Bowdoin. 

James  Woods.  Mrs.  D.  G.  Barr. 

,  ™  f  George  Thompson, 

.lames    1  hompson.  <  ,c.     °        ,     Tx 

I  Miss  E.  A.   Hoyt. 

Wm.  Anderson.  Win.  E.  Anderson. 

Jaeob  Nichols.  H.  L.  Pollard. 

Adam  Homes.  Mrs.  D.  Wetherill. 

John  Barr.  J.  E.   Barr. 

Joseph   Pepper.  All  of  that.  name. 

Location. — So  far  as  known,  the  original  settlers  located 
themselves  as  follows,  the  second  column  indicating  present 
occupants  of  their  farms,  with  due  allowance  for  additions 
and  subtractions  incidental  to  a  century  and  a  half: 

Former.  Present. 

James  Robinson,  Col.  Robinson  Place,  Hardwick. 

John  Wilson,  Thomas  Loring. 


22 


AXXtVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRA1XTREE. 


James  Thompson, 
Jona.  Cobleigh, 
John  Blair, 
Jacob  Nichols, 
Abram  Joslyn, 
Joseph  Little, 
Eleazer  Warner, 
Beriah  Hawes, 

Edward  Blair, 
David  Woods, 
James  W'oods, 
John  Barr, 

Samuel  Steele, 
David  Avers, 
Phinehas  Warner, 
Wm.  Anderson, 
Samuel  Ware, 
Wareham  Warner, 
Joseph  Pepper, 
Jacob  Pepper, 
Moses  Abbot, 
David  and  Jona.  Gilburt, 
Sarah  Barnes, 
Ebene/er  Spooner, 
Adam  Homes, 
Cornelius  Cannon, 


C.    D.   Sage,  near  E.  Centre  Cemetery. 

Shedd   Brothers. 

Josiah   Bush,   near   Pond. 

H.  L.  Pollard. 

Edwin  Hoar. 

Walter  Allen. 

L.  Crawford,   "  Perez  Cobb  house  " 

Dennis  Healev,   on   discontinued  road 

to  Hardwick. 
Jerry  Mara. 
E.  Happennv. 
L.  B.  San  ford. 
J.   B.   Fobes,  John  Sibley,  W.  Phelps, 

P.  Monahan. 
Ceo.  F.  Vaughn. 
Geo.  A.  Litchfield. 
J.  H.  Thresher. 
Wm.  E.  Anderson. 
Geo.  F.  Snow. 
John  O'Brien. 
Wm.  A.  and  E.  Pepper. 
J.  E.  Barr. 
Dwight  Tyler. 
M.  Cota, 

John  Cooney,  opp.  side  of  brook. 
J.   Brunelle. 
H.  D.  Pollard. 
M.  Graves. 


May  31,  1749,  James  Thompson,  in  behalf  of  said  petitioners, 
memorialized  the  Governor,  Council  and  House  that,  being 
of  sufficient  ability  to  make  a  town  or  district,  being  of  one 
mind  and  having  obtained  the  full  consent  of  the  non-resident 
proprietors,  humbly  prayed  their  excellencies  and  honorables 
to  consider  the  premises  and  order  therein  as  they  should 
deem  best. 

This  was  not  the  first  effort  for  incorporation;  Dec.  2, 
1738,  one  month  before  the  incorporation  of  Hardwick  as 
a  town,  Ebenezer  Ayers,  Eleazer  Warner  and  sundry  others, 
proprietors  and  inhabitants  of  the  southeast  part  of  Lambs- 
town,  on  the  southeast  side  of  Ware  River,  petitioned  the 
General  Court  to  be  annexed  to  Braintree  Grant,  without 
success. 


^^ 

\   ^H 

■M 

HOHHSsB 

JOSIAH  BUSH. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  23 

The  names  of  the  non-resident  proprietors  were,  Thomas 
Hovey,  Nathan  Goodell,  John  Weeks,  Joseph  Tickl,  Wm. 
Wheeler,  Edmond  Quincy,  Wm.  Torrey,  Thomas  Cutler, 
Joseph  and  Thomas  Crosby,  Richard  Faxon,  Moses  Belcher, 
David  Rawson,  Josiah  Ruggles,  Samuel  Paine  and  Eben 
Adams. 

March  6,  1749,  Hard  wick  in  town  meeting  opposed  this 
petition,  and  August  11th  chose  an  agent  to  present  their 
reasons  for  it  to  the  General  Court;  but  October  8th,  of  the 
same  year,  voted  its  "willingness"  to  the  annexation.  In 
June,  1749,  a  counter-petition,  signed  by  James  Craig,  Samuel 
Crawford,  Alex.  Bothel  and  others  from  the  west  wing  of 
Rutland  (now  Oakham),  and  Adam  Homes  and  Robert  Hun- 
ter, from  Braintree  Farms,  was  presented  to  the  court  praying 
that  inasmuch  as  the  two  tracts  of  land  aforesaid  laid  in  a 
commodious  form  for  a  township,  being  about  five  miles 
square,  capable  of  a  sufficient  number  of  settlements  to  support 
a  minister,  and  neither  could  ever  be  accommodated  for 
public  worship  as  it  was  or  by  annexation  to  any  town,  that 
they  might  be  set  off  as  a  separate  township.  On  both  these 
petitions  the  court  ordered  the  usual  notices  served  on  all 
parties  interested  to  appear  at  its  next  sitting  and  show  cause, 
if  any  existed,  why  they  should  not  be  granted.  The  pro- 
prietors of  Rutland  warmly  favored  the  plan. 

In  August  following  a  committee,  consisting  of  James 
Minot  and  John  Otis,  with  three  others  added  by  the  House 
in  December,  was  appointed  to  take  the  several  petitions 
into  consideration  and  report.  December  9th  this  committee 
reported  that  the  west  wing  of  Rutland  and  Braintree  Farms 
ought  to  be  set  off  with  their  inhabitants  into  a  separate 
district,  with  all  powers  then  conferred  upon  towns  except 
the  right  of  representation  in  the  General  Court.  This  report 
the  Council  accepted  and  sent  down  to  the  House  for  con- 
currence; but  that  body  refused  to  concur  and  ordered  the 
several  petitions  and  the  report  upon  them  back  to  the  com- 
mittee for  further  consideration.  January  3,  1750,  the  same 
committee  again  reported  to  the  Council  that  after  another 
careful  review  of  the  situation  they  saw  no  reason  to  change 
their  opinion,  but  reaffirmed   their  former  one,   and   further 


24  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    RRAIXTREE. 

recommended   that    the   petitioners  for  a  union  of  Braintree 

Farms  and  portions  of  Hardwick  and  Brookfield  be  dismissed. 
This  report  was  also  accepted  by  the  Council  and  sent  to 
the  House  for  concurrence,  but  the  House  again  refused  to 
concur  and  referred  the  whole  matter  to  the  next  General 
Court.  To  this  the  Council  agreed.  It  is  well  to  state  here 
that  the  religious  preferences  of  the  petitioners  had  much  to 
do  with  their  choice  of  their  future  townsmen ;  those  desiring 
a  union  of  the  West  wing  with  the  Farms  being  Presbyterians, 
while  the  petitioners  for  a  union  of  the  Farms  with  portions 
of  Brookfield  and  Hardwick  were  nearly  all  Congregationalists. 

The  latter  party,  defeated  twice  in  the  Council  and  as  many 
times  victorious  in  the  House,  now  went  to  work  with  renewed 
zeal  and  vigor.  March  22,  1750,  they  again  sent  a  petition 
to  the  Council,  desiring  a  speedy  answer  by  the  sending  of 
a  committee  to  view  the  lands  designated  unless  it  saw  fit 
to  grant  the  petition  without  such  viewing.  To  this  the 
Council  replied  by  the  appointment,  April  20th,  of  another 
committee,  of  which  Samuel  Watts  was  chairman  and  who 
were  instructed  to  repair  to  the  land,  view  it  and  report  in 
following  May. 

To  this  committee  the  inhabitants  of  the  Farms  presented 
the  following  reasons  against  a  union  with  West  Wing:  1st. 
The  quality  of  the  land  in  the  West  Wing  was  so  inferior  to 
that  in  the  Farms  it  could  not  pay  its  share  of  the  common 
expenses.  2d.  They  hoped  the  court  would  not  impose  upon 
their  consciences  by  forcing  them  to  unite  with  a  society 
differing  so  much  in  religious  views;  that  the  boast  had  already 
been  made  by  some  of  their  neighbors  of  the  Wing  that  they 
would  soon  have  a  Presbyterian  minister  over  them,  whether 
they  would  or  no.  3d.  A  union  with  a  part  of  Hardwick 
was  much  more  desirable,  because  they  were  better  able  to 
pay  common  charges  and  were  well-agreed  to  unite.  The 
inhabitants  of  Hardwick,  east  of  Ware  River,  informed  the 
committee  that,  having  been  annexed  to  Hardwick  for  want 
of  a  better  place,  they  were  not  essential  to  its  support;  that 
in  the  location  of  Hardwick  meeting-house  no  regard  was 
paid  'to  their  interests,  as  it  was  understood  they  would  at 
some  future  time  be  annexed  to  the  Farms. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  25 

At  this  juncture  Brookfield,  hitherto  silent,  interposed  a 
vigorous  protest  against  any  scheme,  as  it  termed  it,  of  its 
neighbors  of  the  Farms  to  benefit  themselves  at  the  expense 
of  Brookfield,  giving  as  a  reason  for  the  delay  of  its  protest 
that  it  had  never  been  officially  notified  of  the  petitions. 
The  full  protest  of  Brookfield,  probably  drawn  by  Joseph 
Dwight,  chairman  of  the  town's  committee,  for  which  there 
is  no  space  here,  gives  credit  to  the  adroitness  of  its  author, 
and  was  without  doubt  the  cause  of  the  subsequent  action 
of  the  Council,  to  whom  it  was  referred. 

The  committee,  appointed  April  20th,  reported  June  14th 
that  the  tract  of  land  known  as  Braintree  Farms,  that  part 
of  Hardwick  east  of  Ware  River,  and  seven  families  in  Brook- 
field, with  their  estates,  viz.:  Joseph  Pepper,  Moses  Abbott, 
David  and  Jona.  Gilbert,  Sarah  Barnes,  Eben.  Spooner  and 
Joseph  Pepper,  Jr.,  be  erected  into  a  distinct  and  separate 
precinct,  and  invested  with  all  powers  and  privileges  accorded 
other  precincts.  The  same  day  the  Council  refused  to  accept 
this  report,  and  ordered  the  petitioners  to  be  dismissed  and 
sent  it  to  the  House  for  concurrence.  The  House  refused 
to  concur  and  ordered  that  the  report  be  and  hereby  is  ac- 
cepted, and  then  sent  it  back  to  the  Council  for  concurrence. 
The  Council  referred  it  to  the  next  General  Court,  but  after 
pigeon-holing  it  for  three  months,  reconsidered  its  action  and 
ordered  it  accepted.  Here  the  fight  ended.  What  reasons 
or  persons  influenced  the  Council  to  decide  uniformly  against 
the  popular  voice,  as  expressed  in  the  petition  and  uniform 
action  of  the  House,  is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  It  is  noted 
in  this  connection  that  all  but  eight  of  the  original  petitioners 
for  a  union  of  West  Wing  with  the  Farms  withdrew  their 
request  for  that  union  three  weeks  before  the  report  of  the 
Committee,  recommending  that  union,  was  made. 

First  Doings. — Jan.  31,  1751,  the  court  issued  the  final 
order  constituting  the  precinct  and  appointing  Eleazer  Warner 
to  call  the  first  meeting.  Agreed  to  by  Council  and  signed  by 
the  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  powers  conferred  included  all 
rights  of  towns  except  that  of  representation  in  General  Court. 
Nor  did  the  precinct  become  a  town  until  1776,  when  it  be- 


26  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

came  so  by  a  general  law  of  the  province.  The  name  of  New 
Braintree  was  given  to  the  precinct  the  next  April.  A  space 
of  one  hundred  and  ten  years  intervened  between  the  date 
of  the  original  grant  and  its  incorporation.  There  were  at 
this  time  forty-five  families  in  town.  The  first  meeting  for 
the  choice  of  officers  was  held  March  13,  1751,  at  the  house 
of  David  Ayers  (on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Geo. 
A.  Litchfield).  Officers  chosen:  Eleazer  Warner,  moderator; 
David  Woods,  town  clerk;  Eleazer  Warner,  David  Gilburt 
and  Cornelius  Cannon,  selectmen  and  assessors;  James  Woods, 
treasurer;  James  Thompson,  constable;  James  Blair,  ty thing- 
man.  Two  of  these  had  already  taken  part  in  the  organization 
of  Hardwick,  1739, — Cannon  as  its  first  town  clerk,  and  Warner 
as  chairman  of  its  first  Board  of  Selectmen. 

Church  Buildings. — At  the  next  meeting,  March  25th, 
voted  "to  find  the  centre  of  the  tract  of  land  already  laid 
off  in  this  district,  and  that  it  be  the  prefixt  spot  for  a  meeting- 
house." This  vote  was  rescinded  at  a  later  meeting,  and  a 
deed  of  another  piece  of  land  for  the  meeting-house  was  ac- 
cepted, but  no  record  exists  of  the  deed  or  by  whom  given. 
Ten  pounds  were  appropriated  for  preaching,  and  a  committee 
chosen  "to  procure  a  preacher  as  soon  as  conveniently  he 
could  be  had." 

October  4th  the  town  finding  it  difficult,  by  reason  of  small- 
ness  of  its  numbers  and  straitness  of  its  circumstances,  to 
secure  sufficient  support  for  a  minister,  petitioned  the  General 
Court  for  authority  to  lay  a  tax  of  twopence  per  acre  on  all 
lands,  improved  or  otherwise,  in  the  district.  The  court 
granted  them  one-half  the  sum  asked  for,  for  three  years. 
This  tax  amounted  to  fifty  pounds,  and  was  the  sum  annually 
paid  the  minister  for  twenty-five  years.  The  next  step  was 
the  erection  of  a  meeting-house.  A  vote  was  passed  in  No- 
vember to  procure  the  material  the  coming  winter.  Robot 
Hunter  was  chairman  of  the  building  committee.  January  1 , 
1752,  voted  "  to  build  a  house  40  by  50  feet  and  20  feet  between 
joints,"  "to  be  enclosed  and  clay-boarded."  The  price  of 
labor  per  day  in  winter  in  its  erection  was  one  shilling  four- 
pence.     It  was  not  ready  for  occupancy  until  July,    1753, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  27 

and  then  but  little  better  than  a  barn.  For  fourteen  years 
it  was  minus  lath  and  plaster.  It  faced  the  west  on  site  of 
present  building,  and  for  twenty  years  nothing  was  erected 
to  shield  the  worshippers,  when  the  doors  were  opened,  from 
the  cold  blasts  that  swept  thirty  miles  in  a  straight  line  un- 
impeded. Our  forefathers  must  have  valued  highly  Gospel 
privileges  to  sit  four  hours  each  Sabbath  in  a  room  the  natural 
temperature  of  which  was  at  zero,  with  nothing  but  their 
own  breaths  and  a  few  foot-stoves  to  warm  them.  In  1772 
porches  were  added  at  the  east  and  west  ends.  It  is  said 
that  one  winter  the  cold  was  so  intense  that  the  snow  on  the 
south  side  of  the  meeting-house  roof  never  melted  a  drop 
for  six  weeks  in  succession.  For  a  long  time  there  was  no 
belfry,  and  the  bell  hung  by  itself  on  the  Common.  The 
house  was  colored  a  dingy  yellow.  The  fore-doors  on  the 
south  side  were  double.  There  was  a  single  door  at  each 
end.  The  broad  aisle  led  directly  from  the  fore-doors  to  the 
pulpit  on  the  north  side  and  the  deacons'  seat  in  front.  The 
main  floor,  for  a  space  of  ten  feet  in  from  the  walls  on  all  sides 
and  ends,  was  assigned  for  the  pew-ground.  This  was  divided 
into  twenty-one  lots,  appraised  at  three  to  seven  pounds  each, 
old  tenor,  according  to  its  dignity  (location),  and  assigned 
by  a  special  committee,  appointed  by  the  town,  to  twenty- 
one  freeholders,  according  to  their  ability  to  pay,  age  and 
influence  in  the  community.  James  Blair  had  the  first  choice. 
The  bounty  money  received  from  sale  of  pew-ground  was 
used  to  build  a  "decent"  pulpit,  deacons'  seat  and  a  "suitable 
body  of  seats."  In  addition  to  the  bounty,  each  purchaser 
of  pew-ground  must  build  his  own  pew  and  ceil  the  walls 
against  it.  The  seats  in  the  body  of  the  house  were  plain 
benches,  occupied  by  the  other  members  of  the  district,  seated 
annually,  by  a  special  committee  who  were  governed  in  their 
duty  by  the  same  law  as  that  which  assigned  the  pew-ground, 
viz.:  the  relative  standing  in  the  community  of  the  attendant. 
A  feeling  of  uneasiness  arising  in  the  pit  that  the  pews  had 
got  their  privileges  too  cheap,  an  "indifferent  committee  was 
selected  from  Brookfield  and  Hardwick  to  fix  the  bounty." 
On  the  two  ends  and  south  side  were  galleries,  the  west 
half  occupied  by  men  and  the  east  half  by  women.     Young 


28  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

men  must  receive  special  permission  to  occupy  these  seats. 
Five  shillings  annually  were  allowed  the  sexton,  James  Thomp- 
son, for  sweeping  the  house  and  shutting  the  doors.  As  the 
town  grew  in  numbers  and  wealth  the  pews  encroached  upon 
the  pit,  the  pit  becoming  better  able  to  build  pews.  Every 
available  foot  of  ground  on  main  floor  and  in  galleries,  and 
even  in  the  porches,  was  used  for  pews.  From  1790  to  1800 
the  town  had  the  largest  population  of  any  time  in  its  history, 
and  the  old  house  was  not  only  too  small,  but  unsuited  to 
the  improved  tastes  and  pockets  of  the  people.  The  erection 
of  a  new  house  was  begun  in  1800  and  completed  in  1802. 
The  frame  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  present  structure.  Henry 
Penniman  gave  three  hundred  dollars  to  buy  a  new  bell,  and 
his  son,  Henry,  and  son-in-law,  Joseph  Bowman,  gave  two 
hundred  dollars  to  buy  a  new  town  clock.  In  1806  Henry 
Penniman,  Jr.,  asked  and  obtained  leave  of  the  town  to  place 
an  organ  in  the  new  church.  The  value  of  this  addition  in 
church  worship  seems  not  to  have  been  appreciated  by  all, 
for  one  deacon  was  heard  to  remark  that  ' '  he'd  rather  hear 
the  filing  of  his  old  saw  than  that  noise."  In  this  building 
no  alterations  were  made  until  1846,  when  it  was  lowered 
six  feet  and  entirely  remodelled,  with  town  hall  and  vestry 
below;  dedicated  October  26,  1846,  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  settlement  of  Rev.  John  Fiske,  D.  D.  A  new  organ 
was  bought  at  a  cost  of  eleven  hundred  dollars.  In  1877 
house  repaired  at  a  cost  of  six  hundred  dollars,  of  which  three 
hundred  dollars  was  contributed  by  Edward  Fiske,  of  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

Although  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  district  was  the 
selection  of  a  committee  to  provide  a  preacher,  two  years 
passed  and  none  of  the  many  candidates  heard  were  suffi- 
ciently acceptable  to  be  called.  Discouraged,  the  district 
appointed  February  23,  1753,  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
for  divine  help,  and  invited  the  neighboring  ministers  to  take 
charge  of  the  services.  In  July,  voted  to  hear  Rev.  Benjamin 
Ruggles,  of  Middleton,  on  condition  that  he  be  dismissed 
from  the  pastorate  he  then  held.  In  this  they  were  both 
shrewd  and  honorable.  Mr.  Ruggles  came,  was  liked,  and 
invited  to  preach  longer.     Five  of  the  neighboring  ministers 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  29 

were  consulted  as  to  the  advisability  of  settling  him ,  and 
invited  to  preach  a  lecture  to  the  people  Jan.  23d.  Feb.  4th, 
a  call  was  extended  to  Mr.  Ruggles.  The  settlement  given 
him  was  thirty  pounds,  and  annual  salary  fifty  pounds.  This 
call  Mr.  Ruggles  accepted,  "sensible  in  a  measure  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  calling,  but  relying  upon  the  sincerity  and  fidelity 
of  the  people."  He  was  installed  April  17,  1754.  To  the 
council  installing  him  was  referred  by  the  district  a  petition 
of  several  of  its  members  for  the  free  use  of  the  meeting-house 
two  Sabbaths  yearly  that  the  sacrament  might  be  administered 
in  the  Presbyterian  way  by  one  of  their  order.  The  council 
decided  that  though  "  willing  to  promote  union  and  communion 
between  the  sects,  yet,  considering  the  circumstances  and 
fearing  the  consequences,  they  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  grant 
it."  The  council  was  composed  of  the  following  churches: 
March  25,  "voted  that  the  district  would  send  for  six  churches, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Frinks,  Mr.  White,  Mr.  Hardings,  Mr.  Forbushes, 
Mr.  Jones'  and  Mr.  Eaton's  to  assist  in  the  affair  of  installing 
Mr.  Ruggles  in  this  place."  Thomas  Frink  settled  at  Rarre, 
Oct.,  1753;  Elisha  Harding  settled  at  Rrookfield,  Sept.  13, 
1749;  Eli  Forbush.  settled  at  North  Rrookfield,  June  3,  1752; 
Joshua  Eaton  settled  at  Spencer,  Nov.  7,  1744;  David  White, 
settled  at  Hardwick,  Nov.  17,  1736;  Isaac  Jones,  settled  at 
Warren,  Jan.,   1745. 

Terms  of  Settlement  with  Mr.  Ruggles. — A  letter  to 
the. town  from  Mr.  Ruggles  as  to  the  terms  of  a  final  settle- 
ment when  his  colleague  was  ordained  sheds  some  light  on 
the  conditions  on  which  a  minister's  salary  was  fixed  at  a 
second  settlement,  and  perhaps  more  on  the  close  calculation 
of  the  town.  In  it  Mr.  Ruggles  writes:  "When  your  com- 
mittee conferred  with  me  about  the  terms  of  a  settlement 
at  the  beginning  of  my  ministry,  they  told  me  to  this  purpose; 
that  the  district  had  understood  that  I  had  lived  in  the  min- 
istry about  thirty  years  and  that  they  looked  upon  it  that 
forty  years  was  as  long  as  one  minister  with  another  commonly 
lived  to  supply  the  same  pulpit,  so  that  they  had  voted  to 
give  me  about  one-fourth  as  much  as  they  would  give  a  young 
man."     Then  he  continues,  "Considering  that  I  have  supplied 


30  ANNIVERSARY    OF   NEW    BRAINTREE. 

your  pulpit  about  twelve  years  longer  than  you  expected 
this  fact  ought  to  be  considered  in  a  final  settlement." 

Benjamin  Ruggles  was  born  July  4,  1700;  graduated  Yale 
college  1721;  received  degree  M.  A.  from  Yale  college  and 
Harvard  college  1724.  He  was  a  younger  brother  of  Rev. 
Timothy  Ruggles,  who  was  so  prominent  in  the  settlement 
of  Hardwick;  married  Dorcas  Whiting  of  Billerica,  Dec.  30, 
1725. 

Of  Mr.  Ruggles  a  successor  writes  that  he  was  "a  man  of 
average  ability  and  sincere  piety,  and  his  relations  to  the 
people  were  entirely  harmonious  and  productive  of  great 
blessing."  To  this  end  he  contributed  more  than  his  share. 
A  letter  from  him  to  the  town,  when  the  matter  of  a  colleague 
and  his  proportionate  salary  was  under  consideration,  reveals 
some  of  his  trials  and  the  spirit  in  which  he  bore  them.  He 
writes,  "My  salary  has  never  been  paid  when  due.  Not  only 
for  one  year,  but  for  the  twenty  years  I  have  been  here  it 
has  been  six  and  seven  months  overdue,  so  that  I  have  been 
straightened  for  money  to  buy  the  necessaries  of  life,  and 
often  obliged  to  borrow  so  small  a  sum  as  half  a  dollar  of 
the  Treasurer  (Dea.  James  Woods),  who,  out  of  his  own  money, 
would  give  me  a  dollar,  or  if  I  asked  one  dollar  he  would  give 
me  two.  Every  town  around,  altho'  poorer  than  this  town, 
has  paid  their  minister  more.  In  those  days,"  he  adds,  "  I 
kept  these  things  much  to  myself,  careful  that  neither  by 
word  or  deed  it  might  get  abroad  to  the  discredit  of  the  town." 
His  name  heads  the  long  roll  of  the  Brookfield  Association 
of  Ministers,  of  which  he  wras  one  of  the  original  five  founders 
when  it  was  organized,  June  22,  1757.  Mr.  Ruggles  was  sole 
minister  twenty-four  years  and  associate  senior  pastor  six 
years,  until  his  death,  January  6,  1784.  The  whole  period 
of  his  ministry  was  fifty-nine  years. 

After  a  period  of  five  months  on  probation,  in  July,  1778, 
Rev.  Daniel  Foster  received  a  call  from  church  and  town  to 
become  associate  minister  with  Mr.  Ruggles,  with  one  thousand 
pounds  settlement  and  sixty-six  pounds,  thirteen  shillings  and 
four  pence  annual  salary,  and  thirty  cords  of  wood  eight 
feet  long  at  his  door,  the  salary  to  be  regulated  by  the  follow- 
ing standard,  i.  e.,  rye  at  four  shillings  and  Indian  corn  at 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  31 

two  shillings  eight  pence  per  bushel.  Mr.  Foster  accepted 
the  call,  "relying  upon  their  generosity  as  to  Temporals  while 
he  ministered  to  them  in  Spirituals."  October  28th  was  set 
apart  for  the  ordination.  Seventeen  churches  were  invited. 
Committees  were  chosen  "  to  carry  the  letters  missive,  to  prop 
the  meeting-house  and  to  keep  the  doors  and  reserved  seats." 
In  his  examination  by  the  council  Mr.  Foster  differed  in  a 
measure  in  his  theological  views  from  the  majority  of  its 
members,  but  it  was  finally  voted  satisfactory  and  the  ordi- 
nation proceeded.  He  was  born  September  1,  1750;  ordained 
October  28,  1778.  January  28,  1779,  married  Miss  Betsey 
Reed,  of  Western.  February  17,  1779,  bought  of  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Ruggles  the  premises  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Frank 
Gaffney,   for  $2350. 

His  ministry  continued  until  his  death,  September  1,  1795. 
Mr.  Foster  was  a  man  of  much  personal  magnetism,  especially 
popular  with  the  young  men,  who,  at  his  decease,  out  of  respect 
wore  a  badge  of  mourning  on  their  left  arms  for  thirty  days. 
He  was  fluent  and  often  extravagant  in  speech.  A  good 
dinner  appeared  to  be  more  to  his  liking  than  spiritual  penance. 
He  was  an  unbliever  in  creeds.  Soon  after  his  settlement 
some  of  the  church  members  avowed  their  belief  in  his  denial 
of  some  of  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  Gospel  and  presented 
their  grievances  at  a  church  meeting.  The  church  sustained 
its  pastor,  on  the  ground  that  all  the  points  at  issue  had  been 
settled  by  the  ordaining  council.  Several  attempts,  among 
them  an  appeal  to  the  association,  were  made  to  reconcile 
the  differences.  One  or  two  joined  the  Baptists,  two  ab- 
sented themselves  from  church  and  rode  every  Sabbath  to 
Rutland  for  conscience'  sake.  The  association  recommended 
a  mutual  council  for  settlement  of  the  points  at  issue,  but 
this  after  long  deliberation  the  church  declined. 

Here  we  first  make  the  acquaintance  of  Francis  Stone, 
grandfather  of  Lucy  Stone,  who  afterwards  became  noted 
as  a  prominent  supporter  of  Shays 's  rebellion.  He  was  denied 
the  right  to  act  as  attorney  for  the  aggrieved  brethren  in 
their  conference  with  the  church  and  afterward,  when  called 
to  account  for  his  absence  from  communion,  declared  himself 
to  have  changed  his  views  and  to  have  become  a  Baptist. 


32  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

From  the  records  the  trouble  appeal's  to  have  continued  for 
about  five  years;  the  last  record  in  relation  to  the  matter 
is  of  the  request  of  two  of  the  brethren  for  dismission  and 
recommendation  to  the  church  in  North  Brookfield.  The  man- 
ner of  putting  this  request  to  vote  before  the  church  is  illus- 
trative of  Mr.  Foster's  ways.  He  said,  "Brethren,  two  of 
us  desire  to  go  to  Heaven  by  way  of  North  Brookfield.  Is 
there  any  objection?" 

Rev.  John  Fiske,  J).  I).,  writes  that  he  seems  to  have 
overcome  opposition  and  ultimately  won  the  affections  of 
his  people.  His  death  was  the  occasion  for  many  popular 
expressions  of  grief;  all  the  ministers  in  the  association  were 
invited.  The  town  paid  all  the  bills  and  had  printed  the 
funeral  sermon.  After  Mr.  Foster's  decease  the  town  was 
without  a  minister  more  than  a  year.  August  15,  1796,  a 
unanimous  call  from  church  and  town  was  given  Rev.  John 
Fiske,  with  a  settlement  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  pounds, 
and  an  annual  salary  of  ninety-five  pounds.  He  was  installed 
October  26th.  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman,  of  Hatfield,  preached  the 
sermon,  afterward  published.  The  installation  services  occu- 
pied two  days  and  closed  with  a  ball  on  the  evening  of  the 
second  day. 

Rev.  John  Fiske  was  born  at  Warwick,  October  26,  1770. 
Fitted  for  college  partly  with  his  pastor  and  partly  with  his 
brother  Moses;  graduated  at  Dartmouth,  1791;  studied 
theology  with  Dr.  Lyman,  of  Hatfield;  licensed  to  preach 
and  ordained  to  the  ministry  at  Hadley,  May  6,  1794;  labored 
for  a  season  in  northern  New  York;  attacked  with  fever  and 
ague  and  returned  to  Massachusetts;  preached  a  while  at 
Milford  and  North  Brookfield.  Overtures  to  settle  at  both 
places  were  made  him,  which  he  declined;  received  degree 
of  D.  1).  in  1844  from  Amherst  college,  of  which  he  was  one 
of  the  founders  and  long  a  trustee;  published  a  spelling  book 
in  1807;  "Fast  Day  Sermon."  in  1812;  "Dedicatory  and 
Semi-Centennial  Discourse,"  in  1846;  was  chosen  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Brookfield  Auxiliary  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
1824,  and  held  that  office  twenty  years.  During  his  ministry 
of  fifty-eight  years  in  New  Braintree  he  was  called  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  councils  and  attended  one  hundred 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  33 

and  fifteen.  As  Dr.  Fiske's  pastorate  covered  a  period  of 
marked  changes  and  great  contrasts  in  not  only  the  social 
customs,  but  also  the  moral  and  religious  sentiments  and 
practices  of  the  people  of  this  town  and  all  New  England  as 
well,  a  glimpse  at  the  state  of  society  at  the  close  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  through  his  eyes  may  be  of  interest:  "There 
were  really  two  classes  of  ministers  as  to  theological  doctrines 
and  the  methods  the  gospel  reveals  whereby  sinners  are  to 
obtain  an  interest  in  Christ,  altho'  no  division  had  taken 
place  nor  had  it  entered  into  any  one's  heart  to  conceive 
of  it.  There  was  then  no  Unitarianism  in  this  Association, 
but  the  character  of  Christ  was  not  frequently  brought  into 
view  in  preaching.  While  some  of  the  older  ministers  were 
sound  in  the  faith  and  preached  the  doctrines  of  grace  with 
consistency  and  earnestness,  others  had  become  comparatively 
lax,  and  were  disposed  to  avoid  in  their  preaching  what  they 
esteemed  doubtful  points  and  things  not  well  understood  nor 
received  by  the  people.  There  were  great  objections  to 
metaphysical  subtilties.  The  character  of  the  preaching  was 
defective  as  to  doctrine  and  pungency.  The  great  day  of 
labor  of  the  minister  was  the  Sabbath.  It  was  expected  of 
him  that  he  deliver  two  sermons  on  the  Sabbath  and  admin- 
ister the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  once  in  two  months, 
except  in  winter,  when  it  was  the  cause  of  much  suffering. 
No  custom  existed  of  holding  an  evening  or  third  service. 
He  was  wont  to  exchange  one-fourth  to  one-third  of  the  time 
and  to  go  and  come  to  the  place  of  exchange  the  same  day- 
such  arduous  labors  were  generally  thought  to  require  the 
sustaining  power  of  comforting  cordials  and  the  best  dinner 
that  could  be  provided  between  services  and  were  always 
furnished  without  grudge  or  measure.  He  was  often  called 
upon  to  preach  a  service  to  an  aged  person  unable  to  attend 
church  at  his  own  home.  On  the  records  of  the  Association, 
which  he  was  expected  to  attend  three  times  j^early,  no  allu- 
sion was  to  be  found  to  seasons  of  prayer  for  the  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  churches,  for  no  such  seasons 
were  held.  Nothing  was  said  concerning  the  state  of  religion 
in  them.  No  question  proposed  for  discussion  was  selected 
on  account  of  its  relation  to  the  spiritual  condition  of  the 


34  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRA1NTREK. 

people,  or  aim  at  the  conversion  of  sinners  or  edification  of 
believers.  Formalism  reigned.  No  multiplied  meetings  or 
visitations ;  no  efforts  to  publish  the  gospel  at  home  or  abroad 
or  diffuse  knowledge  by  lectures,  conferences,  Sabbath-schools, 
Bible  classes  or  anniversaries. 

"Of  the  church  it  might  be  said  'Like  people,  like  priest.' 
If  the  minister  did  little,  the  church  would  do  less,  and  be 
less  concerned  for  its  own  or  others'  salvation.  In  some  of 
the  churches  there  had  been  revivals  of  religion,  but  in  most 
of  them  there  never  had  been  any,  nor  were  they  expected, 
and  in  some  not  desired.  No  efforts  were  made  to  obtain 
them, — no  weekly  prayer-meeting.  There  were  no  young 
people  in  the  church  by  profession  of  faith.  Their  member- 
ship was  neither  expected  nor  sought  after.  It  was  held  in 
the  estimation  of  sober  people  that  when  persons  entered 
into  family  relations  and  became  parents,  they  should  join 
the  church  and  have  their  children  baptized,  but  in  one-third 
of  the  churches  the  latter  was  performed  and  the  former 
neglected.  Religion  among  professors  and  others  alike  was 
seldom  a  topic  of  conversation.  There  were  many  social 
gatherings  and  festivities  and  much  story-telling,  but  little 
said  or  done  to  promote  godliness.  There  were  some  godly 
persons  in  church  who  were  waiting  and  praying  for  better 
times,  but  their  number  was  so  few  that  they  found  their 
cross  too  great  to  venture  forth  against  the  strong  current 
of  public  sentiment.  The  people  at  large  were  apparently 
(but  only  apparently)  more  religious  than  now.  Every  person, 
except  a  few  obstinate  Baptists  and  occasionally  an  emigrant 
from  Rhode  Island,  all  of  whom  were  looked  upon  as  pesti- 
lent fellows,  paid  a  tax  in  proportion  to  his  worth  in  support 
of  the  Congregational  ministry;  exemption  from  this  tax  was 
no  more  thought  of  than  exemption  from  support  of  Govern- 
ment. Both  were  paid  on  same  principle,  viz. :  from  necessity 
laid  on  them  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  There  was  one 
advantage  in  this  custom.  Every  inhabitant  had  a  right  to 
such  services  of  his  minister  as  he  might  need.  'There  was 
no  stealing  of  preaching  or  begging  of  prayers.'  There  was 
much  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  personal  religion.  Infidelity 
prevailed.     Paine's  'Age  of  Reason'  was  widely  circulated  and 


HISTORICAL     ADDRESS.  35 

had  many  believers.  The  Bible  was  almost  a  proscribed  book, 
but  little  read  in  families  by  youth.  Morals  were  much  vitiated. 
There  was  much  lewdness  in  language  and  action;  much 
Sabbath  breaking.  The  great  roads  were  filled  with  teams 
on  their  way  to  and  from  market,  and  with  droves  of  cattle, 
sheep  and  swine. 

"All  classes  of  persons,  Christians  and  sinners,  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor,  could  meet  on  same  platform  so  far  as 
drinking  rum  and  brandy  was  concerned;  almost  all  men 
would  drink,  and  multitudes  to  repletion,  on  such  occasions 
as  town  meetings,  raisings,  huskings,  auctions  and  trainings. 
Especially  was  indulgence  thought  to  be  not  only  allowable, 
but  praiseworthy,  on  the  glorious  Fourth  of  July.  It  would 
have  been  looked  upon  as  a  most  indecorous  thing  in  the 
year  1800  had  a  Christian  funeral  been  attended  at  which 
the  mourners,  bearers  and  other  friends  were  not  comforted 
together  in  well-filled  tumblers  of  grog.  It  was  a  dark  day 
for  New  England  churches.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the 
19th  century  light  began  to  dawn  out  of  darkness.  Ministers 
began  to  talk  and  pray  and  preach  differently.  They  ap- 
pointed church  meetings  for  conference  and  prayer,  instituted 
Bible-classes  and  Sabbath-schools  for  the  young,  preached  the 
gospel  to  the  poor,  and  interpreted  literally  the  last  command 
of  Christ.  They  found  many  supporters  in  the  church,  and 
the  result  was  not  one,  but  repeated  visitations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  pastors,  churches  and  congregations,  that  recalled 
the  day  of  Pentecost."  Dr.  Fiske  was,  from  the  first,  fully 
in  concord  both  in  spirit  and  action  with  these  movements. 
As  a  result,  from  1800  to  1821,  with  one  exception,  the  church 
received  yearly  accessions  to  its  membership  by  profession  of 
faith.  From  1809  to  1811,  forty-five;  1819  to  1821,  one 
hundred.  In  1810  it  was  formally  and  publicly  reorganized, 
with  articles  of  faith  essentially  the  same  as  in  1850.  The 
later  largest  accessions  during  Dr.  Fiske 's  ministry  were  in 
1826,  thirty;  1831,  twenty-five;  1845,  forty-three.  1817, 
Sabbath-school  was  first  organized. 

The  church  was  first  gathered  and  formed  (as  by  memo- 
randum of  Deacon  Jonathan  Woods),  April  18,  1754,  date  of 
the  installation  of  Mr.  Ruggles.     No  records  exist  for  forty- 


36  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

two  years,  except  from  1778  to  1784.  Since  1800  there  has 
been  from  it  a  constant  emigration  in  ratio  of  two  to  one. 
Its  deacons  have  been  William  Witt,  Samuel  Ware,  James 
Woods,  Jonathan  Woods  and  Jonathan  Gould  chosen  previous 
to  1775;  George  Barr,  between  1775  and  1800;  Abijah  Big- 
elow,  1805;  James  Woods,  1808;  Jacob  Pepper  and  Samuel 
Warner,  1815;  Phinehas  Warner,  1817;  Francis  Adams.  1828; 
Amasa  Bigelow,  1830;  Welcome  Newell,  1830;  Henry  M. 
Daniels,  1855;  Elbridge  Gleason  and  Moses  Pollard,  1862; 
Dwight  G.  Barr,  1871 ;  Horatio  Moore  and  Geo.  K.  Tufts,  1889. 
In  1819  a  lagacy  of  one  hundred  dollars  was  left  by  Lieutenant 
Jonas  Newell  to  the  church  for  the  purchase  of  furniture 
for  the  communion  table. 

The  Church,  by  Dr.  Fiske. — "  From  the  best  information 
that  can  be  gathered,  it  would  seem  that  at  my  taking  charge 
of  the  church  in  this  place,  there  was  held  the  view  that  no 
other  regeneration  was  needful  to  salvation  than  that  which 
took  place  when  the  drop  of  water  fell  upon  the  face  of  the 
infant  child.  All  parents  had  been  urged  to  offer  their  chil- 
dren in  baptism  without  even  a  halfway  covenant.  There 
were  no  church  covenants  or  confession  of  faith.  Persons 
had  been  admitted  to  membership  without  any  written  con- 
fession of  faith,  and  no  record  made  of  the  fact  of  their 
admission.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was  that  when  the 
writer  of  this  sketch  was  installed,  Oct.  26th,  1796,  there 
was  no  documentary  evidence  to  show  that  a  church  had 
ever  been  formed  in  this  place.  No  list  of  members,  not  a 
single  record  in  relation  to  the  whole  matter.  Of  these  delin- 
quencies, the  church  seems  to  have  been  quite  ignorant. 
Something  was  soon  done  to  put  things  in  a  better  state. 
A  confession  was  formed  and  adopted,  to  which  persons  were 
to  give  their  public  assent  when  they  made  profession  of 
religion;  a  confession  not  so  full  and  explicit  as  that  in  use 
by  the  church  later,  but  to  which  no  objections  could  have 
been  used.  But  it  was  not  until  Sept.  13,  1810,  that  the 
church  had  an  existence  which  could  be  proved  by  authentic 
records. 

"It  was  then  formally  organized  in  a  very  public  manner, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  37 

accompanied  with  prayer,  fasting  and  preaching,  not  only 
among  ourselves,  but  by  several  neighboring  brethren  in  the 
ministry,  who  came  in  to  help  us.  It  is  among  the  things 
which  have  occasioned  wonder  and  gratitude  in  the  writer, 
as  it  is  said  to  have  done  in  some  good  ministers  in  other 
churches  in  the  neighborhood;  that  out  of  such  a  state  of 
chaos  which  existed  in  New  Braintree  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century  order  should  have  been  produced,  especially  in  so 
quiet  a  manner,  and  more  especially  still  when  one  of  so  little 
experience  was  acting  as  pastor.  The  hand  of  God  seems 
to  have  been  manifest  in  this  as  in  anything  that  ever  took 
place  among  us.  None  of  my  brethren  can  fully  understand 
the  difficulties  in  which  a  minister  finds  himself  involved  when 
he  becomes  the  pastor  of  a  church  thus  conditioned. 

"  Peace  has  been  enjoyed  in  the  church  for  fifty  years  past. 
It  may  be  said  without  intermission,  for  although  there  have 
been  some  differences  between  individual  brethren  at  different 
times  and  for  divers  causes,  and  although  about  fifteen  or 
sixteen  members  during  that  time  were  cut  off  from  the  church 
in  the  way  of  discipline,  yet  neither  of  them  caused  a  schism. 
The  church  as  a  body  were  always  so  far  united  in  views  and 
feeling's  in  respect  to  every  important  point  which  came  before 
them  as  to  afford  no  encouragement  to  the  minority,  if  there 
were  such,  to  attempt  open  opposition.  There  has  never  been 
in  the  church  a  Perfectionist,  a  Millerite  or  Unitarian;  for 
although  several  have  apostatized,  yet  it  has  not  been  from 
the  faith  that  they  once  professed." 

An  incident  related  by  Dr.  Fiske  in  his  semi-centennial 
discourse  in  1846  is  illustrative  of  the  times.  He  remarked, 
that  when  he  was  installed  it  was  an  unusual  thing  that  any 
duty  of  a  devotional  character  was  performed  even  by  pro- 
fessors of  religion,  except  in  their  own  families,  especially 
in  the  presence  of  the  pastor. 

"  It  was  not  until  I  had  been  in  this  place  more  than  eleven 
years  that  I  was  permitted  to  hear  a  sentence  of  prayer  offered 
by  one  of  my  own  people.  I  had  been  requested  to  attend 
the  funeral  of  a  colored  man,  but  by  reason  of  a  powerful 
rain,  I  was  detained  so  far  beyond  the  appointed  time  it  was 
thought  I   would   fail   of   coming.     Being  unwilling  to   bury 


38  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  RRAINTREE. 

their  dead  without  prayer,  a  professor  of  religion  who  was 
present  was  requested  to  perform  the  duty.  I  arrived  before 
its  close  and  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  listening  to  the  latter 
part  of  it.  If  I  ever  felt  any  gratitude  to  God,  it  was  never 
more  in  exercise  than  on  that  occasion." 
Of  Dr.  Fiske,  Rev.  Mr.  Hyde  wrote: 

It  was  especially  true  of  him  that  he  was  young  when  he  was  old 
and  lived  until  he  died.  In  person,  tall  and  well-proportioned,  with 
large  and  regular  features  and  but  slightly  bended  form,  with  eye  still 
bright  and  voice  still  strong  and  clear,  with  slow  but  solid  footstep; 
generally  reading,  writing,  singing  or  talking  when  he  was  not  visiting 
or  sleeping,  he  seemed,  when  I  first  knew  him,  at  eighty-three  years 
of  age,  to  be  about  as  vigorous  as  he  was  venerable, — with  a  serene 
and  intelligent  countenance,  with  mild  and  dignified  manners,  with  an 
active  and  well-balanced  mind, — discriminating  in  judgment,  skillful 
in  management,  cautious  and  yet  determined  in  action,  in  conversa- 
tion at  once  inquisitive  and  instructive,  deeply  interested  in  the  prac- 
tical affairs  of  men  and  with  as  deep  an  insight  into  their  character 
and  motives,  he  made  his  presence  to  be  felt  by  all  around  him,  without 
ever  attempting  to  exert  an  influence  or  make  an  impression.  Fixed 
in  his  opinions  and  ways,  but  seldom  arbitrary,  strict  in  his  principles, 
severe  in  his  sense  of  propriety  without  being  sanctimonious,  equable 
in  temperament  and  yet  playful  in  feeling,  generous  in  sympathy  and 
uncommonly  companionable  to  those  who  really  knew  him,  siding 
always  with  a  noble  impulse  and  a  steady  faith  in  favor  of  whatever 
seemed  right  or  useful,  nervously  sensitive  to  suffering,  timid  and  some- 
times impatient,  but  always  submissive  and  trustful,  thoroughly  repub- 
lican in  simplicity,  truly  patriarchal  in  hospitality,  he  presented  to 
my  eye  a  rounded  completeness  of  character  seldom  found,  except 
in  those  who  have  grown  old  with  a  silent  and  natural  growth  without 
any  special  excitement  or  constraint,  but  in  the  quiet  service  of  the 
Gospel.  In  the  pulpit  he  spoke  not  with  enticing  words  nor  impas- 
sionate  appeal,  but  with  sterling  good  sense  and  with  great  appropri- 
ateness, particularly  in  prayer.  In  all  the  councils  of  the  Church, 
especially  in  difficult  cases,  he  was  eminently  wise  and  efficient. 

He  died  in  1855,  at  eighty-five  years  of  age  and  sixty-first 
of  his  ministry. 

I  have  given  much  space  to  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Fiske  because 
it  seems  to  me  that  of  all  the  single  forces  that  made  for  the 
growth  and  development  of  this  community  along  all  moral, 
religious,  educational  and  reformatory  lines,  he  was  by  far 
the  most   potent.     He  came  to  a  soil  that   responded  to  his 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  39 

touch.  A  strong  man  among  strong  men,  and  he  made 
strong  men.  Dr.  Hyde  said  that  so  far  as  human  instrumen- 
tality could  do,  he  made  the  church.  His  living  influence 
extended  over  more  than  one-third  of  our  history,  and  "Being 
dead,  he  yet  speaketh." 

May,  1853,  a  call  was  extended  to  Rev.  James  T.  Hyde 
to  become  associate  pastor  with  Dr.  Fiske;  salary,  eight 
hundred  dollars.  The  call  was  unanimous  by  the  church, 
and  three  to  one  in  the  society.  The  call  was  accepted,  and 
Mr.  Hyde  ordained  June  22d  following.  Mr.  Hyde  was  a 
graduate  of  Yale  College,  ranking  second  in  his  class.  He 
was  a  varied  and  accurate  scholar,  an  able  writer  and  preacher 
of  refined  tastes.  His  natural  gifts  were  of  a  high  order. 
Most  of  those  opposed  to  calling  Mr.  Hyde  were  men  of  ex- 
tremely liberal  views, — two  or  three  Unitarian,  or  with  Uni- 
tarian views,  prominent  in  society,  to  whom  Mr.  Hyde's  strong 
orthodoxy  and  forcible  expression  of  it  were  distasteful. 
During  the  two  years  following  his  settlement  twenty  withdrew 
from  the  society,  many  of  them  large  property  owners,  part 
from  dislike  of  Mr.  Hyde,  part  on  account  of  the  greatly  in- 
creased rate  of  taxation,  and  part  through  fear  of  a  still  higher 
rate.  The  breach  widened.  That  spirit  of  bitterness  which 
Dr.  Fiske.  in  his  communication  to  the  society  on  the  eve 
of  settling  a  colleague,  deprecated,  had  already  sprung  up. 
A  few  determined  that  Mr.  Hyde  must  go  and  a  few  deter- 
mined that  he  should  stay.  Finally,  the  good  sense  of  the 
majority  triumphed.  The  votes  on  the  two  following 
resolutions,  taken  in  June,  1855,  indicate  the  true  state  of 
affairs.  The  first  resolution  was,  "That  we,  personally, 
without  reference  to  the  feelings  or  acts  of  others,  are  satis- 
fied with  the  ability  and  faithfulness  of  our  Pastor."  Yeas, 
26;  nays,  2;  silent,  5.  The  second,  "That  it  is  expedient 
under  existing  circumstances  that  the  pastoral  relation  be 
dissolved."  Yeas,  19;  nays,  6.1  August  13th  the  dissolution 
was  effected. 

In  seeking  for  some  of  the  causes  of  this  short  pastorate, 
we  may  find  some  light  from  an  article  by  President  Noah 
Porter  of  Yale  College.     In  analyzing  the  character  of  Mr. 

1  Fourteen  persons  voting  yea  on  first  resolution  also  voted  yea  on  second. 


40  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

Hyde,  in  an  article  written  soon  after  his  decease,  he  writes: 
"It  must  also  be  confessed  that  not  unlike  many  superior 
young  preachers,  he  scorned  some  of  the  legitimate  conditions 
of  popularity,  and  failed  to  study  some  of  the  necessary  ele- 
ments of  pulpit  power  and  success.  It  was  also  probably 
true  that  he  was  in  a  sense  too  proud  to  be  popular,  or  at 
least  too  proud  to  study  any  other  than  what  he  considered 
the  reasonable  conditions  of  success,  and  withal  mistook  some- 
what the  nature  and  reach  of  those  conditions.  There  was 
in  his  nature  also  a  kind  of  obstinacy  or  excess  in  his  tendency 
to  differ  from  others,  which  did  not  help  him  in  his  capacity 
to  lead  or  teach;  but  his  ministry  was  worthy  of  notice  as 
pervaded  with  an  intense  delight  in  the  spiritual  activities  of 
his  calling,  and  an  unflagging  intellectual  diligence  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  his  sermons.  He  threw  himself  into  his  work  with 
the  same  energy  and  ardor  as  he  would  have  displayed  in 
a  more  conspicuous  and  exciting  field  of  usefulness.  For  this 
reason  his  ministry  at  New  Braintree,  though  brief,  was  pro- 
ductive of  permanent  fruit  to  the  people  and   himself." 

He  always  retained  a  strong  affection  for  his  first  parish, 
remarking  to  the  writer  that  he  would  have  been  content 
to  have  lived  and  died  among  this  people.  He  died  while 
professor  of  pastoral  theology  in  Chicago  Seminary.  It  was 
said  of  him  that  "  no  man  in  all  the  West  would  be  more  missed. 
Another  might  fill  his  chair  in  the  seminary,  but  no  man  in 
all  the  land  could  be  found  to  touch  the  seminary  at  so  many 
points  or  be  so  conspicuously  useful  in  all  that  concerns  the 
welfare  of  the  Churches." 

Rev.  John  H.  Gurney  received  a  unanimous  call  to  suc- 
ceed Mr.  Hyde,  and  was  installed  April  23,  1856;  salary, 
nine  hundred  dollars.  A  resolution,  "That  the  Church  for 
a  third  service  in  the  Sabbath  be  free  to  other  denominations 
when  unoccupied  by  the  pastor,"  was  lost  by  a  majority  of 
one.  Mr.  Gurney  possessed,  in  addition  to  other  ministerial 
qualifications,  a  strong  mind,  good  common  sense,  a  fondness 
for  agriculture  and  the  highest  capacities  of  a  citizen.  His 
pastorate  lasted  thirteen  years,  during  which  there  was  one 
extensive  revival.  May  3,  1871,  Rev.  John  Dodge  was  in- 
stalled.    His  pastorate  was  terminated  by  his  death,  in  June, 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  41 

1872.  He  was  much  esteemed  and  beloved.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  William  B.  Bond,  October  30th  of  the  same 
year,  whose  pastorate  continued  seven  years.  Of  him  it  could 
be  said,  ''he  never  preached  a  poor  sermon."  He  was  the 
last  settled  pastor.  Since  then  the  church  has  been  supplied 
successively  by  Rev.  William  Barrows,  D.D.,  Rev.  T.  A. 
Merrill  and  Rev.  U.  W.  Small,  and  the  present  pastor,  Rev. 
Francis  H.  Boynton. 

Schools. — The  first  appropriation  for  schooling  was  made 
Oct.  1,  1753,  of  three  pounds.  School  was  taught  three  months, 
one  month  each  in  three  different  parts  of  the  district.  In 
1756,  the  town  was  divided  into  four  school  squadrons,  but 
school  was  taught  in  private  houses  until  1762,  when  the 
first  school-house  was  built  at  the  centre,  "twenty  feet  square 
with  chimney  in  the  middle,"  at  a  cost  of  ten  pounds.  Inci- 
dentally the  same  committee  chosen  to  build  the  school-house 
was  also  commissioned  to  divide  the  stabling  ground  on  the 
common.  In  1767,  a  vote  was  passed  to  build  three  new 
houses,  and  sixty  pounds  raised  for  the  purpose.  The  next  ten 
years  the  annual  appropriation  was  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
pounds.  1787,  Aaron  Hall  was  exempted  from  taxes  as  long 
as  he  shall  serve  the  town  as  grammar-school  master. 

In  1779,  the  whole  town  appears  to  have  been  divided 
into  eight  squadrons  or  districts,  and  a  committeeman  chosen 
for  each.  This  division  probably  existed  with  but  few  slight 
alterations,  such  as  changing  a  family  from  the  border  of 
one  district  to  another,  until  1861.  The  customary  appro- 
priation for  schools  seems  to  have  been  made  during  the 
Revolutionary  war,  although  it  was  omitted  in  many  towns. 

In  1792,  the  town  empowered  the  inhabitants  of  each  schcol 
squadron  to  build,  and,  from  time  to  time,  repair  the  school- 
houses  and  levy  a  tax  on  the  inhabitants  of  their  respective 
squadrons  in  same  manner  as  other  town  taxes  were  levied, 
and  collect  said  tax  for  above  usage. 

This  district  ownership  of  school  property  continued  until 
1861,  when  the  town  bought  the  old  houses  and  erected  new 
ones  at  a  cost  of  $5000.  In  that  year,  the  number  of  districts 
was  reduced  to  six,  the  present  number. 


42  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

The  support  of  schools  has  always  been  liberal  and  hearty. 
In  1796  Whitney  writes:  "The  people  in  New  Braintree  are 
particularly  attentive  to  the  education  of  their  children  and 
youth.  They  have  eight  reputable  school-houses,  and  in  the 
winter  season  as  many  instructors;  two  Latin  grammar  mas- 
ters, and  in  the  summer  they  have  generally  two  or  three 
masters  and  as  many  mistresses,  and  they  expend  more  an- 
nually in  supporting  schools  than  in  supporting  their  public 
teacher  of  piety,  religion  and  morality,  though  he  is  honorably 
maintained."  This  interest  was  fostered  and  increased  by  Dr. 
Fiske,  who  for  fifty-five  years  held  the  active  superintendence 
of  the  schools,  who  exercised  a  sort  of  parental  care  over 
them,  and  whose  constant  aim  was  to  raise  the  standard  of 
qualifications  among  teachers.  In  1845,  and  for  several  years 
previous,  the  amount  raised  per  scholar  exceeded  that  of  any 
town  or  city  in  the  State,  excepting  Boston  and  six  adjoining 
towns.  In  the  published  address  at  the  semi-centennial  of 
the  Brookfield  Association,  New  Braintree  is  accredited  with 
having  furnished  to  that  date  eighteen  ministers  to  the  Con- 
gregational denomination, — two  more  than  any  other  town 
in  the  association.  There  have  been  forty- two  liberally  edu- 
cated and  professional  men  from  this  town,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  list: 

Levi  Washburn,  graduated  at   Dartmouth  ;    died   1776. 
Jonathan  Goidd,  graduated  at   Brown,   1786;    died   1794;    minister. 
James  Tufts,  graduated  at  Brown,   1789;    minister. 
Joseph   Delano,  graduated  at  Brown,   1790. 
Edwards  Whipple,  graduated  at  Williams,   1801  ;    minister. 
Luther  Wilson,   graduated  at  Williams,   1807;    minister. 
Thomas  Pope,  graduated  at  Harvard,   1806;    lawyer. 
Frederic  Matthews,  graduated  at  Harvard.   1816;    lawyer. 
Luke  B.   Foster,  graduated  at  Vermont   University,   1811;    minister. 
Henry  H.   Penniman,  graduated  at  Harvard,    1822;    teacher. 
Charles  Eames,  graduated  at  Harvard,   1831  ;    lawyer. 
Frederic  C.  Whipple,  graduated  at  Union,  1837;    lawyer. 
Waldo  F.  Converse,  graduated  at  Wesleyan  University,  1839;    law- 
yer and  business. 

Eli  W.  Harrington,  graduated  at  Amherst,   1833;    minister. 
Charles  D.   Bowman,  graduated  at  Harvard,   1838;    lawyer. 
Win.   Penniman,  graduated  at  Amherst. 
Joseph  Washburn,  graduated  at  Yale,  1793;    minister. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  43 

James  Woods,  graduated  at  Columbia,   1832;    minister. 

Gustavus  Davis,  D.   D.,  minister. 

Jesse  A.  Penniman,  graduated  at  Amherst,  1833-35;  minister  and 
physician. 

Charles  Delano,  graduated  at  Amherst,  1840;    lawyer. 

Wm.  Barrows,  D.  D.,  graduated  at  Amherst,  1840;    minister. 

Wm.   Miller,  graduated  at  Amherst,   1842;    minister. 

Simon   Barrows,   graduated   at   Dartmouth,   1S42;    minister. 

Lewis  Barrows,  graduated  at  Waterville;    minister. 

David  Burt,  graduated  at  Oberlin,   1848;    minister. 

James  Fiske,  graduated  at   Amherst ;    physician. 

George  H.   Gould,   D.   D.,   graduated   at   Amherst,   1850;    minister. 

Henry  M.  Daniels,  graduated  at  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  1^61  ; 
minister. 

Nathan  Thompson,  graduated  at  Amherst,  1861 ;  minister  and  teacher. 

Charles  S.   Brooks,  graduated  at  Amherst,   1863;    minister. 

George  K.  Tufts,   M.   A.,  graduated  at  Yale,   1863;    business. 

Henry  Penniman,  graduated  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
1882;    minister. 

Emerson  Warner,  graduated  at  Wesleyan  University,  1856;  Harvard 
Medical  School,  1863;    physician. 

Daniel  Healey,  studied  classics  at  St.  Charles  College,  Maryland; 
philosophy  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore;  theology  at  St.  Joseph's 
Seminary,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  ordained  priest  June,  1869;  died 
July  5th,   1892;    pastor  at  East  Weymouth. 

Jeremiah  Healey,  born  at  Bantry,  County  Cork,  Ireland;  came  to 
New  Braintree  when  fifteen  years  of  age;  studied  classics  in  Holy  Cross 
College  in  Worcester;  philosophy  in  Grand  Seminary,  Montreal,  Canada; 
theology  in  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  Md.,  where  he  was  or- 
dained priest  June  30th,  1868;  pastor  of  church  in  Gloucester  since 
Sept.  5th,   1871. 

Michael  T.  O'Brien,  graduate  of  Holy  Cross  College,  Worcester,  class 
of  1875;  spent  four  years  in  theological  course  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and 
was  ordained  June  22d,  1889;  appointed  to  Worcester  the  following 
July,  and  remains  there  now. 

William  Pollard,  graduated  at  Amherst,   1900. 

James  E.  Downey,  graduated  at  Amherst,  1897;  teacher  of  chem- 
istry, Holyoke  High  School. 

Francis  M.  Carroll,  graduated  Boston  University,  class  of  1897;  re- 
ceived degree  A.   M.,   1899. 

John  A.   Callahan,   graduated  at  Amherst,   1883. 

W.  H.  Downey,  graduated  at  Amherst,  1892;  Harvard  Medical 
School,  1896. 

James  Tufts,  born  1764,  completed  his  theological  studies 
with  Dr.  Emmons  of  Franklin,  and  ordained  November  4, 
1794,  over  the  Congregational  Church  at  Wardsboro',  Vermont. 


44  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

His  pastorate  continued  forty-seven  years,  until  his  death. 
He  was  a  minister  highly  respected  and  venerated  in  the 
circles   in   which   he   moved. 

Luke  B.  Foster,  born  1789,  son  of  Rev.  Daniel  Foster, 
second  pastor  of  this  church,  had  but  one  pastorate,  at  Rut- 
land, commencing  1813,  and  continuing  four  years,  till  his 
death,   1817. 

Edwards  Whipple,  born  1778,  was  one  of  the  three  most 
distinguished  scholars  in  his  class.  He  studied  theology  and 
was  installed  at  Charlton,  January  25,  1804;  remained  there 
seventeen  years;  dismissed  March,  1821;  was  then  installed 
colleague  pastor  at  Shrewsbury,  where  he  remained  one  year, 
until  his  death,  September  17,  1822.  He  was  an  able  and 
faithful  pastor,  a  man  of  decided  talents  and  undoubted  piety. 

Luther  Wilson,  born  1783,  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Mathews 
Wilson,  fitted  for  college  at  Leicester  Academy,  entered  Yale 
1804,  and  Williams  1805;  became  English  preceptor  at  Leices- 
ter Academy  1806;  received  his  degree  1807.  Made  principal 
of  Leicester  Academy  a  few  years  later,  and  filled  that  position 
three  and  one-half  years;  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Zepha- 
niah  Swift  Moore,  D.  D.;  settled  over  First  Congregational 
Church,  Brooklyn,  Connecticut,  as  colleague  pastor  with  Rev. 
Josiah  Whiting,  D.  D.,  June  9,  1813.  During  this  ministry 
he  changed  his  theological  views  and  became  Unitarian; 
resigned  his  charge  September,  1817;  installed  pastor  First 
Congregational  Church,  Petersham,  June  23,  1819;  resigned 
his  pastorate  October  18,  1834;  died  November  20,  1864; 
married  November  30,  1806,  Sally,  daughter  of  Abijah  Bige- 
low,  of  New  Braintree. 

Thomas  Pope  commenced  practice  of  law  in  Dudley,  where 
he  married,   raised  a  family,  lived  and  died. 

Frederic  Matthews,  son  of  Elisha  Matthews,  graduated  at 
Harvard  Law  School;  commenced  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Albany,  N.  Y.;    remained  until  his  death,  about  1820. 

Gustavus  F.  Davis,  born  in  1797,  in  Boston.  At  three 
years  of  age  his  father  died,  and  mother  married  Adin  Ay  res, 
who  removed  to  New  Braintree  in  1812.  Young  Davis  went 
to  Worcester  to  learn  a  trade;  was  converted,  and  became  a 
Baptist,  under  the  preaching  of  Elder  William  Bently;   began 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  45 

to  preach  at  the  age  of  seventeen  in  Hampton,  Conn.;  at 
nineteen  was  settled  over  the  Baptist  Church  at  Preston. 
Conn.;  at  twenty-one  became  pastor  of  the  church  at  South 
Reading  (now  Wakefield),  Mass.;  removed  to  Hartford  in 
1829,  as  pastor  of  the  church  there;  died  in  Boston,  while 
on  a  visit  there,  September,  1836.  He  was  never  a  graduate 
of  any  college  or  other  institution;  a  self-educated  man,  but 
largely  interested  in  the  cause  of  education;  a  trustee  of 
Trinity  College,  and  of  the  Connecticut  Literary  Institution; 
received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  from  Wesleyan  University,  1835. 

Henry  N.  Penniman  was  for  many  years  principal  of  a 
boarding-school  in  New  York,  and  afterwards  in  business. 

Waldo  F.  Converse  began  the  study  of  law  in  1840;  com- 
menced practice  in  Sandusky,  Ohio,  1842;  continued  in 
practice  until  1859,  afterwards  engaged  in  business,  as  presi- 
dent of  Sandusky  Machine  and  Agricultural  Works ;  died  1899. 

Simon  Barrows,  born  1811,  studied  theology  at  Union  Semi- 
nary, New  York;  engaged  in  various  ways  in  cause  of  educa- 
tion; then  entered  into  the  active  and  hard  duties  of  home 
missionary  life  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Sometimes  pastor  of 
four  churches,  he  has  carried  the  New  England  church  and 
school  system  into  our  border  land. 

Lewis  Barrows,  born  1813,  has  devoted  his  whole  life  to 
missionary  work  on  the  border. 

William  Barrows,  born  1815,  completed  his  theological 
studies  at  Union  Seminary,  New  York,  1843,  and  since  that 
has  been  variously  in  the  Gospel  ministry.  There  is  space 
for  a  few  quotations  from  a  sketch  of  him  in  the  "History 
of  Reading,"  where  he  has  resided  since  1856:  "Dr.  Barrows 
comes  of  a  type  of  family  slowly  disappearing  from  New 
England.  His  early  home  was  a  family  of  twelve;  a  farm 
of  sixty  acres  and  obstinate  for  boy's  culture;  parental  com- 
mon sense;  a  spindle;  a  loom;  annual  barrels  of  home  beef 
and  pork;  a  few  books  well  chosen;  a  district  school  well 
attended  without  regard -to  weather  and  the  Sabbath  uniformly 
divided  between  home  and  the  Lord's  house  three  miles  away. 
The  old-fashioned  virtues,  ideas  and  knowledge  ruled  the  home 
more  than  a  dinner,  new  jacket,  or  two-story  house.  No 
winter  snows  were  too  lively  or  deep  for  the  ox-sled  and  a 


46  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

load  of  neighborhood  children  on  the  way  to  school,  where 
the  fire-wood  was  four  feet  long  and  many  of  the  boys  six. 
Naturally,  from  such  a  home  the  boys  entered  college,  yet 
with  pecuniary  struggles.  Garden  roots  were  cultivated  by 
day  and  Greek  roots  by  night  by  the  youngest  of  the  three 
in  Phillips  Academy.  In  the  seminary  private  teaching  by 
the  hour,  theological  polemics  in  the  seminary,  classics  in 
Brooklyn  and  five-minute  lunches  in  Fulton  Ferry  were  sand- 
wiched together.  So  every  bill  was  paid  and  every  borrowed 
dollar  returned.  Ill  health  has  hardly  cost  him  a  day  from 
the  pulpit,  perhaps  because  he  has  kindled  so  many  vacation 
camp-fires  all  the  way  from  New  Brunswick  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia.  Dr.  Barrows  has  had 
three  pastorates  and  was  for  some  years  secretary  of  the 
Congregational  &  Publishing  Society  and  the  Massachusetts 
Home  Missionary  Society.  He  has  taken  deep  -  interest  in 
Western  civilization  and  Christianization,  and  with  this  in 
view  has  made  eleven  tours  over  the  border  and  published 
'The  General,  or  Twelve  Nights  in  the  Hunter's  Camp,'  a 
true  narrative  of  his  brother  William's  life;  'Oregon:  The 
Struggle  for  Possession';  'The  United  States  of  Yesterday 
and  To-morrow ' ;  also  '  The  Church  and  Her  Children ' ;  '  Pur- 
gatory, Doctrinally,  Practically  and  Historically  Considered'; 
'The  Indian  Side  of  the  Indian  Question.'"     Died   1891. 

William  Miller  graduated  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary. 
1845,  and  settled  at  Halifax.  Vt.;  has  been  in  ministry  forty- 
two  years;    now  deceased. 

David  Burt,  born  1822,  graduated  at  Andover  Theological 
Seminary  1851;  preached  at  Raymond,  N.  H..  1851-55;  at 
Rutland  1856-58;  and  acting  pastor  at  Winona,  Minn.,  1858-66; 
engaged  in  work  of  Freedmen's  Bureau  1866-68 ;  State  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  in  Minnesota  (1875)  until  his  death,  1881. 

Eli  W.  Harrington,  born  1804,  graduated  at  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary  1836;  pastor  at  Lunenburg  1836-47;  Marion, 
N.  H.,  1848-50;  Rochester.  Mass.,  1850-59;  North  Beverly 
1860-67.  Since  that  time  impaired  health  interfered  with 
continuous  pastoral   service.     Died   1895. 

Charles  D.  Bowman  studied  law  at  Harvard  Law  School 
and   practiced   in   Oxford,   where   he   died. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  47 

James  Woods  was  for  many  years  a  minister  in  San  Fran- 
cisco and  Sacramento,  Cal.,  where  he  died. 

Charles  Delano,  born  1820,  called  at  his  death,  1882,  the 
most  distinguished  member  of  the  Hampshire  County  bar. 
Member  of  Congress  1859-63,  resident  of  Northampton,  a 
close  student,  a  man  of  broad  culture,  social,  public-spirited, 
liberal,  whose  integrity  and  conscientiousness  were  never 
questioned. 

George  H.  Gould,  born  1827,  graduated  Union  Seminary, 
1853.  For  eleven  years  his  impaired  health  seriously  interfered 
with  the  continuity  of  his  public  ministry.  Travelled  in  Eu- 
rope four  years  with  John  B.  Gough;  1862  and  1863  with 
Olivet  Church,  Springfield;  1864-70  with  Centre  Church, 
Hartford,  Conn. ;  resided  in  Worcester  and  been  acting  pastor 
of  both  Piedmont  and  Union  Churches.  What  a  few  churches 
have  lost  by  his  inability  for  continued  pastoral  service,  the 
general  public  has  gained.     Died  May  8,   1899. 

Henry  M.  Daniels,  graduated  Chicago  Theological  Seminary, 
1861;  pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Winnebago,  111., 
1861-75;  home  missionary  at  Dallas,  Texas,  1875-79;  at 
Lebanon,  Md.,   1880-83;    De  Luz,  Cal.,   1883-1901. 

Nathan  Thompson,  born  1837,  graduated  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  1865;  home  missionary,  at  Boulder,  Col., 
1865-75;  acting  pastor  at  Roxborough  and  South  Acton, 
1876-81;  president  of  Board  of  Trustees  of  Colorado  Univer- 
sity; principal  Lawrence  Academy,  Groton,  Mass.,  1881-86; 
principal  Elgin  Academy,  Elgin,  111.,  1886-88;  author  of  two 
local  histories;    now  of  Cheltenham,  Md. 

Charles  S.  Brooks,  born  1840,  graduated  Andover  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  1869;  pastor  Congregational  Church,  Tyngsboro', 
1869-72;  church  at  South  Deerfield,  1873-77;  Second  Con- 
gregational Church,  Putnam,  Ct.,  1877-87;  Rollstone  Congre- 
gational Church,  Fitchburg,  1887-97;  and  later  at  Mount 
Vernon,  N.  Y.,  and  Holbrook,  Mass. 

Henry  Penniman,  graduated  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
ordained  over  First  Church,  East  Deny,  N.  H.,  1884;  now 
of  Berea  College,   Kentucky. 

Willard  Barrows,  born  in  1800,  early  in  life  left  the  East 
for  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  was  for  many  years  deputy 


48  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    IJRAINTREE. 

surveyor  for  Government  of  wild  lands  in  Missouri,  Arkansas, 
and  the  territory  comprising  the  present  States  of  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota  and  Iowa.  The  first  map  of  the  latter  he  published 
from  his  own  field-notes,  which,  with  his  brief  historical  out- 
line, was  afterwards  published  by  the  State  in  1845.  After- 
wards he  wrote  out  the  history  of  a  part  of  Iowa,  published 
in  "Annals  of  Iowa."  In  1850  he  led  a  company  of  sixty 
men  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  horses  over  the  plains 
to  California,  in  the  wild  rush  for  gold,  when  he  gained  the 
title  of  "General."  In  1864,  he  made  up  a  private  party 
for  adventure  into  Montana  and  Idaho,  1600  miles  and  160 
days;  and  another  the  next  year  to  the  same  region,  via  the 
Missouri  River,  3000  miles.  Died  1868, — ending  the  career 
of  a  stirring  frontier  man,   honored,  beloved  and  lamented. 

Revolutionary  Period. — On  the  first  Monday  in  June, 
1773,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  "ye  Inhabitants  of  ye  Town 
of  Boston,"  the  town  voted,  "That  the  Freeholders  and  other 
Inhabitants  of  yp  Town  of  Boston  hereby  receive  the  hearty 
thanks  of  this  district  for  the  vigilance,  firmness  and  wisdom 
which  they  have  discovered  at  all  times  in  support  of  ye  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  colony,  and  so  heartily  concur  with  them 
in  all  their  constitutional  determinations."  March  7,  1774, 
a  committee  was  chosen  to  draw  up  something  in  reply  to 
"  ye  Inhabitants  of  ye  Town  of  Boston  "  relative  to  the  diffi- 
culties the  Province  labors  under.  April  4th  the  following 
resolves  were  reported,  which  being  twice  read  and  considered 
were   passed   unanimously: 

1st.  That  we  will,  in  conjunction  with  our  Brethren  in  America, 
Risk  our  Fortunes  it  even  our  Lives  in  defence  of  his  Majesty  King 
George  the  third,  His  Person,  Crown  and  Dignity,  and  will  also  with 
yc  same  Resolution  as  his  free-born  subjects  in  this  country,  to  the 
utmost  of  our  Power  And  Ability,  Defend  our  Charter  Rights  that 
they  may  be  transmitted  Inviolate  to  the  Latest  Posterity. 

2d.  Resolved,  that  every  British  Subject  in  America  has  by  our  happy 
constitution  as  well  as  by  Nature,  the  sole  Right  to  dispose  of  his  own 
Property  either  by  himself  or  by  his  Representative. 

3d.  Resolved,  that  y  act  of  y  British  Parliament  Laying  a  Duty 
on  Tea  Landed  in  America  payable  here  is  a  Tax  whereby  the  Property 
of  Americans  is  taken  from  them  without  their  consent. 


HISTORICAL     ADDRESS.  49 

Therefore,  Resolved,  That  we  will  not,  either  by  ourselves  or  any  for 
or  under  us,  buy  or  sell  or  use  any  of  y  East  India  Company  Tea  Im- 
ported from  Great  Brittain,  or  any  other  Tea  with  a  Duty  for  raising 
a  Revenue  thereon  in  America,  which  is  affixed  by  acts  of  Parliament 
on  the  same.  Neither  will  we  suffer  any  such  Tea  to  be  made  up  in 
our  Families. 

Resolved,  that  all  such  persons  as  shall  purchase,  sell  or  use  such 
Tea  shall  be  for  the  future  deemed  unfriendly  &  Enemies  to  the  happy 
Constitution  of  this  Country. 

At  the  same  time,  clear  headed  enough  to  see  the  probable 
consequences  of  their  action,  they 

Voted  Ninety-one  Pounds  to  provide  a  Town's  Stock  of  Powder 
&  Lead  &  Flints  with. 

Our  forefathers  overdid  the  capitalizing,  but  they  showed 
that  they  meant  business. 

August  25th,  Deacons  James  Woods  and  Samuel  Ware  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  meet  like  committees  from  other 
towns  in  the  county,  "to  consider  what  measures  they  ought 
to  come  into  at  this  critical,  difficult  day,"  and  a  Committee 
of  Correspondence  was  chosen.  September  2d,  Deacon  James 
Woods  chosen  a  delegate  to  a  Provincial  Congress  to  be  held 
in  October;  the  town  then  chose  officers  for  a  standing  militia. 
November  7th  a  committee  of  seven,  chosen  to  inspect  all 
tea-drinkers  and  post  their  names.  January  9,  1775,  the  town 
accepted  the  proposal  of  the  minute-men  to  serve  without 
pay,  on  condition  that  the  other  members  of  the  district 
provide  themselves  with  arms  and  ammunition.  Same  date 
a  committee  chosen  to  receive  and  forward  the  donations  to 
the  poor  of  Boston,  and  a  committee  chosen  to  see  that  the 
Provincial   and   Continental  resolves  be  strictly  adhered   to. 

May  22,  1776,  "the  Question  being  put  whether  ye  Town 
would  willingly  support  ye  General  Congress  if  it  shall  declare 
Independence.     Passed  unanimously  in  the  affirmative." 

February  17,  1777,  Ephraim  Woods  chosen  delegate  to  a 
County  Congress,  to  obtain  a  more  equal  and  just  represen- 
tation in  the  General  Court  for  smaller  towns. 

February  24th  the  Committee  of  Safety,  to  prevent  monopoly 
and  oppression,  fixed  a  uniform  price  of  all  produce  and  mer- 


50  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRA1NTREE. 

chandise  and  all  kinds  of  labor.  Following  are  a  few  of  these 
prices : 

"For  men's  labor  in  haying  or  reaping,  3  shillings  per  day, 
&  the  same  for  Carpenters;  Blacksmiths  for  plain  shoeing, 
all  round,  4  shillings;  with  steel  corkings,  5  shillings.  To 
Cordwainers,  for  making  good  men  or  women's  shoes  Strong, 
2  shillings  8  pence  pr.,  exclusive  of  thread. 

"  Doctor's  Fea  for  riding,  6  pence  per  mile  &  Business  in 
proportion.  Good  wheat,  6  sh.  per  bu.;  Rye,  4  sh.;  Ind. 
corn,  3  sh.;  Oats,  1  sh.  8  Pence;  Fresh  Pork,  4  Pence  lb.; 
Grass-fed  Beef,  2\  Pence;   Stall-fed  do.  3+  pence;   N.  E.  Rum, 

5  sh.  per  gall.;  Good  W.  I.  Flip,  10  pence  per  mug;  Horse- 
keeping  at  Farmers,  1  sh.  pr.  night  by  hay,  &  6  Pence  by 
grass.  One  meal  of  victuals  of  the  best,  ten  pence,  other 
victuals  accordingly;  new-milk  cheese,  six  pence  per  lb.; 
firkin  butter,  8  pence  lb.;  Beans,  six  shillings  bu.;  Potatoes, 
one  shilling  per  bu.  in  fall,  one  &  six  pence  in  spring;  good 
yarn,  men's  stockings,  5  shillings  4  Pence  pair;  mutton,  four 
pence;  veal,  two  pence  per  lb.;  Home-made  flour,  twenty 
shillings  per  cwt. ;  Eng.  Hay.  2  shillings  cwt. ;  hire  of  a  horse, 
2  Pence  pr.  mile;  maid  labor  in  spring,  3  shillings  per  week. 
Mch.  31  a  bounty  of  20  pounds  was  offered  soldiers  who  should 
enlist  in  the  Continental  Army  for  3  years,  &  a  com.  chosen 
to  collect  evidence  against  all  persons  appearing  enemical  to 
this  country.  June  5,  1778,  Voted  that  the  town  has  no 
objection  to  articles  of  Confederation  &  perpetual  Union  be- 
tween the  United  States  of  America.  But  the  town  refused, 
54  to  4,  May  19,  &  again  May  31,  1780,  to  adopt  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  state  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  except  on  certain 
conditions,  one  of  which  was  a  provision  for  a  Judge  of  Probate 

6  Register  of  Deeds  in  each  town  in  the  comity." 

The  total  cost  to  the  town  of  the  war  is  unknown,  but  the 
records  from  1778  to  '82  are  replete  with  votes  for  filling 
quota  of  men  and  horses,  paying  bounties,  monthly  wages 
and  furnishing  clothing  and  provisions  to  soldiers  and  their 
families.  A  complete  list  of  the  members  of  the  company 
of  minute-men  from  New  Braintree  that  marched  to  Boston 
April  19,  1775,  may  be  found  on  the1  town  records. 

The  town  furnished  sixty-seven  men  for  three  years,  nine- 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  51 

teen  men  for  six  months,  seventeen  men  for  nine  months, 
thirty-eight  men  for  three  months,  and  fifty  men  for  a  less 
period  of  service  in  the  Revolutionary  war;  one  in  four  of 
her  population. 

May,  1786,  the  town  gave  instructions  to  its  representative 
to  the  General  Court,  Captain  Artemas  Howe,  setting  forth 
the  great  extortion  and  oppression  practiced  by  the  lawyers 
of  the  Commonwealth;  their  growing  importance  as  a  class 
in  numbers,  wealth  and  grandeur,  and  the  danger  to  civil 
liberty  thereby;  the  tardiness  in  obtaining  justice  in  the 
courts  and  the  high  fees  of  certain  court  officers;  that  instead 
of  the  courts  and  juries  being  enlightened  and  assisted  in 
searching  after  and  doing  justice  in  the  cases  that  came  before 
them  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  they  were  left  by  them 
more  perplexed  and  embarrassed;  and  we  heartily  agree  with 
our  brethren  in  Roxbury  that  either  proper  restraint  be  put 
upon  them  or  the  order  be  annihilated. 

"  We  believe  if  the  courts  of  Common  Pleas  be  abolished, 
easier,  cheaper  and  more  equitable  administration  of  justice 
would  be  secured,  at  least  in  civil  cases  before  justices  of  the 
peace,  with  a  right  of  appeal  directly  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

"  We  instruct  you  to  use  your  influence  that  laws  be  made 
for  the  suppression  of  idleness  and  dissipation,  for  encouraging 
industry,  frugality  and  economy,  and  for  encouragement  of 
our  own  manufacture,  being  persuaded  the  only  remedy  for 
political  destruction  is  our  vigorous  exertion  as  a  people  to 
live  among  ourselves. 

"  We  think  that  if  encouragement  were  given  by  laying  small 
bounties  upon  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  nails,  raising  hemp 
and  flax,  increasing  sheep,  manufacturing  cloths,  etc.,  among 
us,  it  might  answer  very  valuable  purposes. 

"  To  all  which  above  trusted  matters,  we  doubt  not,  sir,  you 
will  closely  attend,  and  we  wish  you,  sir.  the  smiles  of  heaven 
in  every  laudable  undertaking." 

It  was  with  recommendations  and  suggestions  such  as  these 
that  the  people  of  New  Braintree  attemped  to  meet  the  com- 
plaints of  the  disaffected,  and  heal  the  disorders  of  the  state. 

We  smile  at  the  courteous  formality,  the  quaint  simplicity 
and,  in  the  light  of  later  times,  the  crudity  of  some  of  these 


52  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    RRAINTREE. 

suggestions;  but  we  recognize  underlying  them,  the  earnest 
purpose,  the  recognition  of  wrong  and  the  readiness  to  remedy 
evil  through  the  channel  of  law  and  order. 

The  spirit  that  prompted  the  compact  in  the  cabin  of  the 
"Mayflower"  was  still  dominant.  We  catch  here,  too,  a 
glimpse  of  that  belief  in  the  fostering  of  private  enterprises 
by  legislation  which,  whether  in  the  shape  of  bounties  on 
home  productions,  or  tariff  on  foreign,  has  been  so  strong  a 
factor  in  our  national  politics. 

Shays'  Rebellion. — The  views  embodied  in  these  resolu- 
tions seem  to  have  been  held  by  a  large  mass  of  the  people 
of  the  State.  Many  were  embittered  by  the  feeling  that 
adequate  compensation  had  never  been  made  the  soldiers  for 
their  sacrifice  in  saving  the  country,  nor  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  those  who  were  killed.  That  many  in  office  who 
had  remained  at  home  had  enriched  themselves  at  the  expense 
of  those  who  had  gone  to  the  war.  The  debtor  class  was 
large.  The  war  had  demoralized  the  people.  The  majority 
hoped  for  a  remedy  for  many  of  the  existing  evils  through 
the  constituted  authorities' and  the  General  Court,  peacefully; 
but  a  great  many  were  in  favor  of  resorting  to  force  for  a 
redress  of  their  wrongs.  Conventions  were  held  in  several 
counties.  September  25th  a  committee  chosen  by  the  town 
recommended  that  for  the  peace  of  the  town  no  representative 
should  be  sent  to  the  General  Court  that  year.  This  was 
the  act  of  the  minority,  who  had  no  faith  in  legislation  to 
attain  their  ends.  At  a  subsequent  meeting  the  conservatives 
rallied  and  voted  to  send  its  representative  as  usual  and 
seek  redress  in  a  lawful  way.  The  trouble  culminated  in  what 
is  known  as  "Shays'  Rebellion."  Twenty-three  from  New 
Braintree  joined  Captain  Shays,  some  of  them  soldiers  in  the 
late  war.  A  large  body  of  insurgents  collected  at  New  Brain- 
tree.  Their  chief  acts  were  to  obstruct  the  courts  in  the 
State  and  prevent  their  assembling. 

Jan.  30,  1787,  the  town  characterized  the  proceedings  of 
the  "Regulators,"  as  they  termed  themselves,  as  illegal  and 
irregular,  and  chose  Rev.  David  Foster,  Benjamin  Joslyn  and 
Percival  Hall,  Esq.,  a  committee  to  confer  with  General  Lin- 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  53 

coin  and  officers,  and  Captain  Shays  and  officers,  for  the 
purpose  of  effecting  a  reconciliation.  February  3d,  voted  to 
petition  the  General  Court  for  a  general  pardon  of  the  insur- 
gents, provided  they  laid  down  their  arms  and  returned  to 
their  allegiance,  and  issue  circular  letters  to  a  number  of 
towns  in  this  and  other  counties  to  do  the  same.  February 
5th,  met  and  heard  the  report  of  the  conference  with  General 
Lincoln,  including  a  letter  to  the  town,  in  which  he  advised 
them  "to  call  home,  without  delay,  all  the  men  then  with 
Captain  Shays  belonging  to  the  town,  and  not  to  afford  any 
aid,  support  or  comfort  to  any  of  ye  insergents."  When  this 
letter  was  received,  after  being  several  times  read  and  con- 
sidered, such  a  disagreement  appeared  concerning  the  adoption 
of  the  course  advised,  that  the  meeting  adjourned  without 
action.  Captain  Artemas  Howe  was  appointed  major  and 
commissioned  as  aid-de-camp  of  General  Warner,  August  28, 
1786,  in  the  campaign  against  the  insurgents.  Seventeen  men 
from  New  Braintree  were  in  the  service  of  the  State  and  en- 
dured the  sufferings  and  dangers  of  the  night  march  from 
Hadley  to  Petersham,  which  Minot  styles  "one  of  the  most 
indefatigable  marches  ever  performed  in  America." 

March  17,  1787,  twenty-two  took  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
Some  of  the  insurgents  fled  from  the  State,  and  among  them 
Capt.  Francis  Stone,  already  referred  to,  of  whom  Temple 
writes,  "If  there  was  any  wisdom  in  counselling  rebellion,  he 
was  one  of  the  wisest  counsellors  in  the  movement."  Hence 
we  find  the  town,  May  21st,  instructing  its  representative  "  to 
use  his  utmost  exertions  for  a  general  pardon  of  the  insur- 
gents, that  the  banished  may  be  called  home;  as  the  wise 
woman  of  Tekoah  remarked  to  King  David  of  old,  that  we 
be  not  like  water  spilt  on  the  ground  that  cannot  be  gathered." 

Miscellaneous. — June,  1790,  the  town  adopted  an  act  to 
discourage  unnecessary  lawsuits,  providing  for  a  committee  of 
three  discreet  freeholders,  to  whom  should  be  submitted  for 
settlement  all  demands  whatsoever  held  by  one  citizen  against 
another.  The  fees  of  the  committee  were  two  shillings  each 
for  each  case.  Any  person  refusing  to  submit  his  claim  to 
the  committee  for  settlement  should  be  deemed  unfriendlv  to 


54  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

the  peace  of  the  town  and  bad  members  of  society,  and  treated 
by  the  inhabitants  with  contempt  and  neglect  as  to  dealings 
and  intercourse,  save  in  the  bare  offices  of  humanity,  and 
should  have  no  votes  for  any  town  office  for  three  years.  A 
prominent  journalist  of  Boston  observed  in  commenting  upon 
this  in  his  paper,  "The  young  people  may  smile  at  this  as  a 
fancy  of  the  old  folks,  but  the  people  of  New  Braintree  in 
thus  practically  adopting  the  purpose  and  method  of  our 
present  Boards  of  Trade  and  arbitrators  were  one  hundred 
years1  ahead  of  their  time." 

March  20,  1792,  the  town  became  security  to  Maj.  Joseph 
Bowman,  Elias  Hall,  Moses  Hamilton  and  John  Joslyn  in  a 
contract  to  support  the  entire  poor  of  the  State  for  ten  years. 
They  in  turn  agreed  to  collect  all  taxes  during  that  time  free 
of  expense,  to  take  all  kinds  of  produce  in  payment  of  taxes 
at  a  generous  price,  and  to  purchase  at  a  generous  price  from 
said  town  all  produce  needed  besides  for  the  support  of  said 
poor.  \  They  were  authorized  to  procure  immediately  materials 
for  and  proceed  to  erect  suitable  buildings  for  their  accommo- 
dation. The  present  residence  of  Wm.  A.  Felton  was  one 
of  these  buildings. 

In  1818  stoves  were  first  introduced  into  the  meeting-house 
at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars. 

Previous  to  1826  the  support  of  the  poor  had  been  put 
up  at  auction  to  the  lowest  bidder.  In  1833  the  town  pur- 
chased the  Little  farm  and  supported  its  poor  thereon.  In 
1835  rules  were  adopted  for  the  regulation  of  its  pauper 
establishment. 

March  20,  1843,  Congregational  parish  organized  with  a 
membership  of  seventy-nine.  Until  then  religious  institutions 
had  been  supported  by  a  town  tax. 

War  of  Rebellion,  1861. — The  first  town  meeting  to  act 
upon  matters  relating  to  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  was  held 
May  7th,  at  which  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  pay  each 
volunteer  belonging  to  the  town  five  dollars  per  month  while 
in  service,  in  addition  to  regular  pay,  and  four  dollars  per 
month  to  his  wife  and  two  dollars  to  each  child  under  twelve 
years  of  age. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  55 

July  21,  1862,  voted  to  pay  a  bounty  of  one  hundred  dollars 
to  each  volunteer  who  enlists  for  three  years,  and  ten  dollars 
additional  to  those  who  enlist  within  one  week. 

August  26th,  the  bounty  for  three  years'  volunteers  was 
raised  to  two  hundred  dollars  and  the  bounty  for  volunteers 
for  nine  months  fixed  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  which, 
November  4th,  was  raised  to  two  hundred  dollars. 

April  11,  1864,  voted  a  bounty  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  to  volunteers  for  three  years'  service,  and  this 
bounty  was  continued  to  be  paid  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
The  town  raised  $9000.55  for  the  war  and  seventy-eight  men — 
four  beyond  her  quota — two-thirds  of  the  men  subject  to 
military  duty  and  one-tenth  of  her  population.  One  only, 
Lieutenant  Lyman  Holmes,  was  a  commissioned  officer. 

The  memorial  tablets  in  the  Town  Hall  will  preserve  their 
names  to  posterity.  Of  them,  twelve  offered  up  their  young 
lives  on  the  altar  of  their  country.  In  the  words  of  Webster, 
uttered  three-fourths  of  a  century  ago,  of  the  Revolutionary 
dead,  "Pouring  out  their  generous  blood  like  water  before 
they  knew  whether  it  would  fertilize  a  land  of  freedom  or  of 
bondage,"  whether  their  dust  would  mingle  with  that  of  a 
united  country  or  a  dismembered  nation  rent  with  the  struggles 
of  frequent  fratricidal  wars.  Of  such,  nearly  two  thousand 
years  ago,  the  old  pagan  Roman  poet  sang,  "  Dulce  et  decorum 
est  pro  patria  mori" — "Sweet  and  fitting  it  is  to  die  for  one's 
country."  And  less  than  a  century  later,  a  greater  than  the 
poet  Horace  said,  "No  man  hath  greater  love  than  this,  that 
a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends." 

Business. — In  1791  Joseph  Bowman,  Jr.,  entered  into  trade 
in  foreign  goods  in  a  small  one-storied  building,  situated  at 
the  north  end  of  the  present  line  of  horse-sheds.  In  1793 
Henry  Penniman,  Jr.,  became  a  partner  with  him  and  for 
twenty  years  the  firm  of  Bowman  &  Penniman  was  a  house- 
hold word  in  many  homes  in  towns  in  the  west  part  of  Worces- 
ter and  east  part  of  Hampshire  Counties.  Mr.  Penniman 
retired  in  1813  and  was  succeeded  by  John  Wetherell.  In 
1824  Mr.  Wetherell  removed  to  Petersham  and  Amory  H. 
Bowman  assumed  the  management  of  the  business,  his  father 


56  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

furnishing  the  capital.  In  1835  he  was  succeeded  by  Benj. 
F.  Hamilton,  who  remained  till  1840,  when  Edwin  A.  Read 
(who  had  had  charge  of  the  carrying  business  of  Hiram  Wads- 
worth,  at  Barre  Plains),  in  company  with  Samuel  Wadsworth, 
took  the  place  until  1850.  The  firm  was  successively  Read 
&  Wadsworth,  Read  &  Smith  and  Read  &  Anderson.  In 
1850  Win.  Bowdoin  commenced  business  and  sold  out  in  1855 
to  Charles  B.  Frost.  In  1858  Abijah  Eddy  succeeded  Mr. 
Frost  and  remained  until  the  spring  of  1863,  when  a  protective 
union  store  was  opened,  with  Mr.  Frost  as  agent.  In  1865 
Mr.  Frost  bought  out  the  stockholders  and  December  1,  1866, 
sold  out  stock  and  store  to  George  K.  Tufts,  who  continued 
until  July,  1900. 

In  1812  Elisha  Mathews,  in  company  with  Deacon  James 
Woods,  induced  by  the  high  price  of  woolen  goods  incident 
upon  the  war,  purchased  a  water  privilege  and  erected  a  mill 
one-fourth  mile  below  the  sawmill  built  by  his  father,  Daniel, 
on  the  same  stream,  and  commenced  the  manufacture  of 
woolen  cloths.  Mr.  Mathews  was  on  his  way  to  market  with 
his  first  load  of  cloths  when  peace  was  declared  and  prices 
dropped.  Deacon  Woods  soon  sold  out  his  interest,  and  Mr. 
Mathews  continued  for  some  years,  but  at  a  constant  pecuniary 
loss.  The  enterprise  ruined  him  financially.  In  1839  Isaac 
Hunter,  Jr.,  James  Hunter  and  T.  P.  Anderson  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  shoes  under  contract  with  Clark  Bates, 
of  South  Carolina,  to  furnish  two  thousand  pairs  per  month. 
In  March,  1840.  Anderson  withdrew  and  David  Wetherell 
took  his  place.  The  enterprise  was  a  failure  through  the 
rascality  and  irresponsibility  of  the  parties  to  whom  the  goods 
were  sold.  The  business,  which  was  carried  on  in  a  part  of 
the  store,  closed  in  1841.  In  1848  a  steam  mill  was  erected 
by  a  stock  company.  This  was  sold  to  Joel  Garfield,  and 
then  to  Jos.  P.  Cheney,  and  finally  to  James  Penniman,  and 
burned  in  1853;  rebuilt  in  1854  by  a  stock  company  and 
sold  to  Jos.  M.  Green,  Wm.  A.  Mixter,  Moses  Pollard,  Henry 
A.  Hoyt  and  Hollis  Tidd;  burnt  in  1863.  Henry  A.  Delano 
made  carriages  and  wagons  from  1820-60,  and  later  Wm.  T. 
Pel  ton  carried  on  the  same  kind  of  business. 

Of  the  men  who  have  gone  out  from  us  into  business  life, 


JOSIAH   P.    GLEASON. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  57 

graduates  of  the  mercantile  school  of  Bowman  &  Penniman, 
the  only  existing  training  school  of  those  days,  the  one  of 
actual  experience,  were  three  who  became  prominent  merchants 
in  Barre,  Benjamin  Clark,  Harding  P.  Woods,  and  Sampson 
Wetherell;  Bert  Lincoln,  who  afterwards  became  postmaster 
at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  George  Ripley,  who  became  the 
head  of  a  prominent  life  insurance  company  in  New  York. 

There  were  also  the  Frost  brothers,  Daniel  and  Bradford, 
and  their  nephew,  Charles  B.,  and  later  William  F.  Morgan 
of  Lynn  and  J.  B.  Hunter  of  Boston. 

Jason  Mixter,  son  of  Samuel,  went  from  here  to  Harclwick. 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  became  successively  clerk  for  and 
partner  with  Gen.  Jonathan  Warner,  and  later  sole  manager 
of  the  business. 

Paul  Wardsworth,  the  founder  of  the  present  house  of 
Wardsworth  &  Howland  of  Boston. 

Frederick  W.  Delano  went  to  Hardwick  and  then  to  Boston, 
where  he  was  for  several  years  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest 
commission  houses  in  Quincy  market. 

Amory  H.  Bowman  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  was 
in  business  most  of  his  life. 

The  pursuits  of  the  inhabitants  have  been  almost  wholly 
agricultural.  Whitney  writes  of  New  Braintree,  1796:  "For 
its  bigness  it  exceeds  any  other  town  in  the  county  in  fine 
grazing  land,  as  is  evinced  by  the  annual  product  of  the  dairy 
&  Beef."  Then  the  product  of  beef  far  exceeded  that  of  the 
dairy.  An  inventory  of  that  time  shows  that  one  man  was 
taxed  for  twenty-eight  oxen;  several  years  after  the  same 
farm  maintained  thirty  cows.  The  increased  profits  of  the 
dairy  over  those  of  beef  changed  the  business  from  fatting 
cattle  to  making  cheese,  and  the  labor  also  from  out-doors 
to  in-doors.  New  Braintree  cheese  had  acquired  an  enviable 
reputation  in  Boston  as  early  as  1800,  and  many  a  dairy  of 
cheese  from  other  towns  passed  through  the  hands  of  Bowman 
&  Penniman  to  be  sold  as  New  Braintree  make.  Previous  to 
1865  cheese  was  made  in  private  dairies;  during  that  year 
the  New  Braintree  Cheese  Manufacturing  Company  was  or- 
ganized, with  a  capital  of  $4000,  and  erected  and  furnished 
a  factory  at  a  cost  of  $11,000.     The  greatest  quantity  of  milk 


58  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

received  for  eight  months  was  3,021,000  lbs.  The  cheese 
factory  in  1886  became  a  creamery,  and  was  then  abandoned. 
Making  milk  supplanted  making  cheese  for  Boston  market. 
In  1888  not  one  dairy  in  town  made  cheese  through  the  season, 
a  thing  that  had  not  been  before  for  a  century. 


Physicians. — Dr.  Percival  Hall  was  probably  the  first  phy- 
sician in  town  and  almost  the  only  one  for  thirty  years.  He 
commenced  practice  about  1760;  married  a  daughter  of  Deacon 
Samuel  Ware,  1764;  removed  to  Boston  1793.  One  of  his 
children,  Betsey,  born  February  29,  1780,  died  at  the  age  of 
one  hundred  and  four  years.  He  was  a  very  popular  man, 
holding  many  town  offices,  and  especially  in  demand  as  chair- 
man of  committees  to  draw  up  instructions  to  representatives. 
His  productions  are  models  in  their  clear,  concise  and  com- 
prehensive statements  of  the  points  at  issue,  and  would  do 
credit  to  any  statesman  of  today.  Dr.  John  Frink  practiced 
in  1786-87.  In  1794  Dr.  Benjamin  Severance  succeeded  Dr. 
Hall,  and  continued  until  his  death,  in  1832.  During  that 
time  there  were  usually  two  physicians.  Dr.  Thomas  Fletcher, 
1789-91;  Dr.  John  Blair,  Jr.,  1793-98;  Dr.  Increase  Mathews, 
1799;  Dr.  March,  1803;  Dr.  Fairfield,  1805;  Dr.  John  Field, 
1810-15;  Dr.  Luther  Spaulding,  1816-20;  Dr.  Thomas  Bou- 
telle,  1820-24;  Dr.  Daniel  McGregor,  1825-33;  Dr.  Oramel 
Martin,  1833-45;  Dr.  Julius  Miner,  1847-52;  Dr.  A.  A.  Kendall, 
1852-55;  Dr.  Saxton  Martin,  1857-66.  Since  that  time  there 
has  been  no  resident  physician. 

"  Dr.  Martin  was  a  Democrat  in  politics.  When  he  came, 
that  party  in  town  numbered  four ;  during  his  stay  it  increased 
to  thirty-five.  He  was  thoroughly  Democratic  (as  that  word 
was  used  then)  in  town,  as  well  as  in  State  and  national  affairs, 
and  believed  that  the  ability  to  govern  existed  in  the  many, 
and  not  the  few;  accordingly,  he  labored  in  all  town  elections 
for  a  more  equal  distribution  of  town  offices." 

The  only  resident  lawyer  there  has  ever  been  was  Hon. 
Charles  Allen,  who  came  here  from  Worcester  after  being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1818;  practiced  six  years  and  then 
returned  to  Worcester. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  59 

Building. — A  prominent  feature  of  the  Centre  is  the  long- 
row  of  horse-sheds.  Previous  to  1816  there  were  but  three 
sheds  to  shelter  the  horses  from  heat,  cold  and  storm  on  the 
Sabbath,  owned  by  Elisha  Mathews,  Lieutenant  Jonas  Newell 
and  Captain  Abijah  Bigelow.  These,  with  the  old  school- 
house,  built  in  1774,  that  replaced  the  first,  built  in  1760, 
"twenty  feet  square  with  chimney  in  the  middle,"  occupied 
the  present  site  of  the  store.  In  1816  Joseph  Bowman  ex- 
changed the  land  on  which  the  sheds  now  stand  with  the 
town  for  a  portion  of  the  land  on  which  the  store  is,  and  Bow- 
man &  Wetherell  erected  the  brick  store,  sixty  by  thirty 
feet  and  thirty  feet  high,  at  a  cost  of  thirty-five  hundred 
dollars.  The  same  year  a  wooden  building,  twenty-seven  by 
forty-three  feet,  and  two  storied,  was  built  five  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  farther  north,  the  lower  part  of  which  was  used  for 
a  school-room  and  the  upper  for  a  hall.  In  1865  the  building- 
was  enlarged,  the  lower  part  converted  into  a  cheese  factory 
and  the  hall  retained.  In  1861,  five  school-houses  were  built; 
cost,  $5,000. 

In  1837  the  New  Braintree  Temperance  House  was  erected 
by  a  stock  company  (cost,  six  thousand  dollars)  to  furnish 
a  place  of  entertainment  free  from  the  sale  of  intoxica ting- 
liquors,  and  for  thirty  years  it  remained  true  to  its  name. 
It  changed  owners  twice,  and  was  burned  in  1880.  Much  of 
the  stock,  with  a  par  value  of  one  hundred  dollars,  sold  at 
eight  dollars. 


Miscellaneous. — In  1810  the  town  was  visited  with  the 
spotted  fever,  and  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars  paid  for 
attendance  of  physicians.  In  1860  pleuro-pneumonia  appeared 
among  cattle:  two  whole  herds  were  slaughtered  and  five 
hundred  dollars  paid  for  relief  of  the  owners.  The  greatest 
loss  to  the  town,  and  one  which  badly  defaced  the  looks  of 
the  Centre,  was  by  fire,  in  1880, — one-third  of  an  acre  covered 
with  buildings  being  burned.  The  cheese  factory,  Temperance 
House  and  Bigelow  House  were  destroyed,  and  but  for  the 
timely  assistance  of  fire  companies  from  North  and  West 
Brookfield,  the  church  and  other  buildings  must  have  shared 


60  ANNIVERSARY  OF  YEW  BRAINTREE. 

the  same  fate.  Loss,  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  A  reward  of 
one  thousand  dollars  offered  failed  to  find  the  incendiary. 
A  new  factory  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  one,  eighty 
feet  by  forty,  three  stories  high,  but  this  was  not  used  for  the 
manufacture  of  cheese  or  butter  after  1885.  In  1893  it  was 
bought  by  the  town  and  converted  into  a  Town  Hall,  with 
rooms  for  town  offices,  the  Public  Library,  the  Colonial  Hall, 
and  dining-room. 

March  7,  1832,  the  New  Braintree  Thief  Detecting  Society 
was  formed,  with  a  membership  of  forty-eight.  It  has  been 
chiefly  a  social  organization,  having  observed  for  the  last 
forty  years,  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  January,  nearly  every 
anniversary  of  its  formation  by  a  hot  turkey  supper.  Some- 
times the  attendance  reaches  one  hundred.  For  many  years 
a  characteristic  feature  of  society  was  the  annual  temperance 
supper,  instituted  for  the  encouragement  of  the  Temperance 
House.  It  was  thoroughly  democratic.  Everybody  was  ex- 
pected to  attend  and  respond  to  a  toast.  It  was  the  occasion 
for  much  badinage,  wit  and  some  eloquence. 

The  Free  Public  Library  was  founded  in  1878  on  a  gift  of 
one  hundred  dollars  by  F.  W.  Delano,  of  Boston,  and  was 
sustained  for  a  few  years  by  private  contributions  and  the 
exertions  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Literary  Society.  In  1884  it 
became  the  property  of  the  town.  It  numbers  two  thousand 
volumes,  well  selected. 

The  Third  Regiment  State  Militia,  including,  with  others, 
one  company  of  militia  from  this  town  and  one  company  of 
grenadiers  from  New  Braintree  and  Oakham  jointly,  mustered 
every  alternate  year  on  the  parade-ground  granted  by  Henry 
Penniman.  The  commissioned  colonels  of  the  Third  Regiment 
from  New  Braintree  were  Samuel  Mixter,  Louis  Blackmer, 
Henry  Penniman,  Stephen  Fay,  Asa  Barr,  Roswell  Converse 
and  Amory  H.  Bowman. 

This  parade-ground,  known  as  the  Common,  was  the  six- 
acre  lot  just  east  of  the  school-house.  Imagine,  if  you  can, 
those  of  you  who  have  never  seen  its  silence  invaded  by  more 
than  half  a  dozen  haymakers,  imagine  it,  peopled  with  a 
thousand  moving  figures  of  men  and  prancing  horses,  gay 
with  trappings  and  polished  bayonets,  marching  and  counter- 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  61 

marching,  surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  the  admiring  country 
folk  from  miles  around,  and  skirted  by  booths  for  the  sale 
of  old  fashioned  gingerbread  and  root-beer,  better  than  the 
nectar  of  the  gods,  that  linger  only  in  memory. 

Picture,  too,  the  consternation  when  the  whole  regiment 
marched  straight  through  those  booths,  demolishing  their  con- 
tents, into  the  road  and  over  the  opposite  wall  because  the 
colonel  commanding,  by  reason  of  his  stuttering,  could  not 
pronounce  the  word  "Halt." 

In  politics  the  federalists,  whigs  and  republicans  have  in 
succession  usually  been  in  a  majority.  Notable  exceptions 
occurred  in  the  reign  of  the  know-nothing  party  and  in  the 
presidential  election  in  1884,  when  Blaine  and  Cleveland  polled 
the  same  number  of  votes.  The  greater  inequality  was  in 
1803,  when  Gerry,  the  democratic  candidate  for  governor, 
received  only  one  vote  against  eighty  for  Strong,  his  opponent. 
There  has  been  but  little  disposition  for  frequent  changes  in 
office.  Men  once  chosen  to  office,  and  proving  themselves 
capable  and  faithful  therein,  have  received  the  continued 
support  of  the  people.  State  senators  have  been:  Joseph 
Bowman,  1828-29;  Samuel  Mixter,  1833-35;  Chas.  A.  Gleason, 
1885-88 ;  Geo.  K.  Tufts,  1902-3.  Councillors :  Joseph  Bowman, 
1832-34;    Samuel  Mixter,   1837-38. 

In  1796  Whitney  wrote  of  the  people  of  New  Braintree, 
"They  have  the  reputation  of  being  good  husbandmen,  frugal 
and  industrious,  and  they  live  much  independent."  This  fru- 
gality and  industry  brought  most  of  them  a  competence  and 
many  wealth.  But  this  wealth  was  held  in  no  miserly  spirit. 
They  could  beautify  their  own  homes  and  the  Lord's  house, 
erect  and  sustain  a  public  house  of  entertainment  in  the  inter- 
ests of  temperance,  give  liberally  to  promote  education  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  in  support  of  all  benevolent  objects. 
They  were  liberal  in  appropriations  for  musical  education. 
The  "independent"  spirit  referred  to  increased  with  the 
increase  of  wealth  and  intelligence.  There  was  a  just  pride 
in  the  relative  position  the  town  held  among  other  towns 
and  in  the  character  of  its  men.  The  elder  Wm.  Hyde,  presi- 
dent of  Ware  Bank,  told  me  that  when  he  came  to  Ware 
the  society  of  New  Braintree  was   not  surpassed    by  that  of 


62  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

any   town    in   Worcester  County,   outside   of    Worcester,   for 
culture  and  refinement. 

Individuals. — Of  the  early  settlers,  Capt.  Eleazer  Warner 
was  already  a  veteran  soldier.  He  was  born  in  1686,  and 
early  entered  the  military  service  of  his  country  during  the 
French  and  Indian  Wars.  At  twenty-seven,  was  an  attendant 
of  a  commission  sent  by  Governor  Dudley  to  Canada  to  re- 
deem prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  French;  is  on  record,  at 
forty,  as  teacher  of  the  first  school  taught  in  Brookfield.  In 
1722  he  married  Prudence,  sister  of  Comfort  Barnes,  who 
built  the  first  house  on  Brookfield  soil,  that  afterward  became 
New  Braintree,  and  located  on  the  south  bank  of  Sucker 
Brook,  opposite  to  the  house  of  Jonathan  Nye;  removed, 
1730,  to  the  place  known  afterwards  as  the  "Perez  Cobb" 
place,  near  the  North  Cemetery,  a  portion  of  which  house 
he  built.  In  the  "History  of  Hardwick"  he  is  referred  to 
as  probably  the  first  settler  in  Hardwick,  and  his  son,  Ware- 
ham,  as  the  first  white  child  born  on  New  Braintree  soil; 
his  nephew,  Joseph  Barnes,  was  the  second.  His  farm  included 
a  part  of  the  Indian  fort  before  referred  to. 

Three  brothers,  active  in  the  town's  early  history,  were 
David,  James  and  Jonathan  Woods,  who  came  from  Marlboro' 
respectively  in  1744,  1746  and  1752.  David  was  town  clerk 
(1750-78)  and  assessor;  Jonathan,  second  representative  to 
General  Court;  James,  moderator,  treasurer,  delegate  to  Pro- 
vincial  Congress   and   first  representative   to   General   Court. 

His  son  James,  representative  to  General  Court,  1803-6, 
chosen  deacon,  1808,  sustained  in  public  affairs  the  prominence 
of  the  family.  He  died  in  1816  at  the  early  age  of  forty-nine. 
From  the  discourse  delivered  at  his  funeral  from  the  text, 
"Help,  Lord;  for  the  godly  man  ceaseth:  for  the  faithful 
fail  from  among  the  children  of  men,"  a  discourse  afterward 
printed,  Dr.  Fiske  thus  speaks  of  him,  "I  know  not  where 
God  could  have  laid  his  hand  in  this  place,  to  make  a  greater 
breach,  by  the  removal  of  any  one  person,  than  in  him  whose 
early  death  we  now  lament.  If  a  steady  and  undeviating 
attention  to  all  the  duties  of  religion,  for  a  series  of  years, 
affords  evidence  of  godliness,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  63 

he  deserves  the  character  of  a  good  man.  If  a  uniform  dis- 
charge of  all  the  relative  duties  of  life  in  the  character  of  a 
neighbor,  friend,  citizen,  professor  and  deacon  in  the  church, 
speaks  any  language,  we  cannot  but  class  him  among  the 
faithful. 

"  Were  I  to  indulge  the  dictates  of  private  friendship,  I  might, 
perhaps,  be  led  to  say  more  than  I  ought,  but  1  have  no  de- 
sire to  praise  the  dead. 

"  Deacon  Woods  was  peculiarly  modest  and  diffident  of  his 
own  abilities.  Whenever  he  was  called  to  act,  he  appeared 
to  advantage  in  the  estimation  of  all  judicious  persons.  Though 
perhaps  he  excelled  not  all  others  in  any  particular,  yet  in 
almost  everything  he  excelled  mediocrity. 

"He  was  one  of  those  characters  that  are  always  found  at 
the  post  of  duty.  From  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  him,  I  can  testify  that  a  sense  of  duty  ever  appeared  to 
prevail  over  his  love  of  private  interest." 

Jacob  Pepper  was  at  least  fifty  times  moderator  of  town 
meetings.  John  Barr,  who  came  from  Ireland  about  1730, 
became  the  owner  of  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  town,  including  a  large  part  of  present 
School  District  No.  5.  Cornelius  Cannon  came  from  Dart- 
mouth in  1737,  and  settled  on  present  residence  of  Mr.  Graves. 
John  Peacock,  a  native  of  Ireland,  was  a  soldier  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  and  his  son,  John,  Jr.,  an  adjutant  in  Col. 
Timothy  Ruggles's  regiment,  1757.  Oliver  Cobleigh  was  also 
a  soldier  in  that  war.  The  Abbots,  Barneses,  Gilberts  and 
Cannons  were  all  connected  by  marriage,  as  well  as  the  Peppers, 
Woods  and  Barrs.  Abraham  Hunter,  the  father  of  all  the 
Hunters  except  Robert,  came  in  1753,  having  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  the  east  part  of  Braintree  grant,  which 
he  divided  among  his  sons  and  daughters.  Daniel  Matthews, 
who  erected  the  sawmill  in  1749  at  Webb's  Pond,  married 
Huldah,  sister  of  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam.  To  him  the  General 
was  apprenticed  at  fifteen  years  of  age.  Mr.  Matthews  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  and  an  inspector 
of  tea-drinkers,  1774.  Wm.  Tufts  came  from  Brookfield  in 
1758,  purchased  land  of  Richard  Faxon,  an  original  proprietor, 
and  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  school  committee. 


64  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

Joseph  Bowman  came  from  Lexington  about  1765.  He 
was  an  ensign  of  a  company  of  fifty  men  from  this  town  who 
marched  to  Boston  on  the  report  of  the  attack  upon  the  com- 
pany at  Lexington  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775.  He  soon  after 
joined  the  army,  and  commanded  a  battalion  at  the  battle 
of  Bennington  and  other  battles,  which  resulted  in  the  capture 
of  Burgoyne.  He  was  not  only  a  leading  man  in  New  Brain- 
tree,  but  his  family,  uniting  the  blood  of  the  Bowmans  and 
Munroes  of  Lexington,  became  one  of  the  most  influential 
in  this  part  of  Worcester  County.  His  daughters  intermarried 
with  the  Delanos,  Woods,  Matthews,  Fields,  Hoyts,  etc.,  in 
the  town. 

His  son,  Hon.  Joseph  Bowman,  was  probably  the  most 
prominent  man  in  political  and  business  life  in  the  history 
of  the  town.  From  the  pen  of  N.  P.  Bryant  I  quote,  "Mr. 
Bowman  was  born  in  New  Braintree,  Sept.  11th,  1771.  He 
was  one  of  eight  children.  His  early  education  was  extremely 
limited,  for  he  never  enjoyed  any  other  advantages  than  those 
which  the  meagre  common  school  of  the  last  century  afforded ; 
and  even  of  such  advantages,  his  share  was  less  than  ordi- 
narily fell  to  the  youth  of  that  period.  This  early  deprivation 
he  often  and  deeply  regretted  in  after  life.  It  was  the  just 
regret  of  a  right-minded  man  whom  rare  success  in  life,  re- 
sulting from  native  energy  of  mind,  had  not  blinded  to  the 
advantages  of  a  thorough  education. 

"While  yet  in  his  minority,  Mr.  Bowman  went  into  mercan- 
tile business  for  himself  in  New  Braintree.  He  began  without 
capital,  without  expectations  of  obtaining  any,  and  conse- 
quently without  credit.  In  time,  however,  his  marriage  with 
the  sister  of  his  partner,  Col.  Penniman,  established  his  credit 
and  brightened  his  prospects:  but  from  the  first,  and  through 
life,  he  was  mainly  indebted  for  his  success  to  the  untiring 
energy,  industry  and  perseverence  with  which  he  devoted 
himself  to  business,  to  inborn  sagacity,  sound  judgment  and 
unyielding  integrity.  He  would  have  succeeded  had  there 
been  no  matrimonial  dower  to  back  his  credit.  Such  a  man 
is  not  dependent  upon  the  accidents  of  fortune. 

"Through  a  period  of  about  thirty-five  years  he  continued 
in  trade  and  accumulated  a  large  fortune.     He  became  the 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  65 

leading  merchant  in  the  region,  and  his  store  the  principal 
place  of  resort  for  the  surrounding  towns.  This  was  the  case, 
especially  during  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  when  in 
spite  of  the  embarrassments  of  the  time,  Mr.  Bowman  always 
succeeded  in  keeping  his  store  filled  with  a  fresh  and  well 
assorted  stock  of  goods,  while  his  mercantile  brethren  were 
suffering  under  the  depression. 

"  We  have  heard  it  stated  that  at  one  time  more  trade  prob- 
ably went  from  Barre  to  his  store  than  to  all  the  stores  in 
Barre.  For  twenty-one  years  he  was  president  of  Ware 
Bank. 

"From  his  first  start  in  life,  Mr.  Bowman  attached  himself 
to  the  party  now  known  as  the  whig  party,  and  so  continued 
to  the  close  of  his  life.  He  never  wavered  in  his  political 
faith.  To  use  the  emphatic  language  of  the  sermon  preached 
at  his  funeral,  'He  never  crossed  the  line.' 

"  In  1808  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  and  so  great  was 
the  confidence  which  his  fellow  townsmen  reposed  in  him 
that  he  was  re-elected  the  thirteen  years  following. 

"  In  1828-29  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  senators  for  Worcester 
County,  and  in  1832,  '33  and  '34  he  was  made  one  of  the 
executive  council  under  Gov.  Lincoln's  administration. 

"In  all  these  stations,  he  served  the  State  with  the  same 
zeal  and  fidelity  that  he  bestowed  upon  his  private  interests. 
It  should  be  added  that  he  was  not  a  politician  by  nature, 
he  sought  not  office,  but  office  sought  him;  he  was  therefore 
placed  in  a  position  to  act  independently,  and  he  failed  not 
to  manifest  his  independence  on  at  least  one  severely  trying 
occasion.  The  result  honored  his  judgment  and  the  firmness 
with  which  he  maintained  it. 

"  In  his  private  character,  Mr.  Bowman  was  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  of  men.  He  possessed  a  beautiful  simplicity  of 
character,  was  hospitable,  courteous,  even-tempered  and  cheer- 
ful in  a  rare  degree;  we  have  never  known  a  man  of  Mr.  Bow- 
man's years  so  exempt  from  the  unpleasant  characteristics 
of  old  age. 

"Youth  triumphed  in  him  to  the  last.  The  weight  of  four- 
score years  had  not  bowed  his  head  nor  greatly  slackened 
his  gait;   his  form  at  eighty  was  as  erect  as  it  was  at  twenty- 


66  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

one.  The  active  habit  of  early  life  was  continued  with  due 
allowance  to  the  close.  It  had  been  his  frequent  custom 
while  in  trade,  to  mount  on  horseback  with  the  dawn  of  day 
and  ride  through  to  Boston  before  he  slept.  He  died  Jan. 
30th,  1852. 

"The  venerable  Dr.  Fiske,  in  the  discourse  preached  at  his 
funeral,  said  that  long  ago  the  church  over  which  he  had 
been  originally  settled  was  gone,  'and  now',  he  added  with 
deep  emotion,  'the  parish  is  gone.'" 

Henry  Penniman  came  from  Mendon,  1785,  and  was  for 
many  years  the  largest  landholder  in  value,  if  not  in  acreage. 
His  gifts  to  the  town  were,  in  1795,  six  acres  of  land  for  a 
training-field  (value,  $333.33),  east  of  Centre,  and  $300  for  a 
new  bell  in  1800.  His  son,  Colonel  Henry  Penniman,  and 
Joseph  Bowman  gave  a  new  town  clock  in  1802;  was  partner 
in  trade  with  Mr.  Bowman  1793-1813;  also  gave  an  organ 
for  the  church,  and  his  family  supplied  it  with  players  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  one  daughter  commencing  at  nine 
years  of  age.  Colonel  Penniman  was  a  trustee  and  a  liberal 
donor  to  the  funds  of  Amherst  College;  was  much  in  town 
affairs  and  twice  representative,  but  declined  more  honors. 

lieutenant  Samuel  Mixter  came  from  Brookfield,  1775,  and 
reared  a  large  family,  who  became  connected  by  marriage 
with  the  Tidds,  Popes  and  Greens.  His  son,  Honorable  Sam- 
uel Mixter,  was  in  nearly  every  town  office,  and  settled  estates, 
etc.;  representative,  1818—19;  senator,  1833-35;  councillor, 
1837-38.     A  man  of  great  native  sagacity  and  influence. 

The  three  brothers  Tidd  came  from  Lexington  (Ebenezer 
and  Joseph,  1768),  the  former  receiving  by  his  father  a  large 
portion  of  the  farm  formerly  occupied  by  Hollis  Tidd,  the 
latter  the  farm  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Mahan.  Benjamin  came 
in  1790,  and  located  where  Frank  Roch  now  lives.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  company  under  Parker  that  took  part  in 
the  struggle  at  Lexington,  April  19th,  at  Cambridge,  June 
17th,  and  served  Dorchester  the  following  year.  Ebenezer, 
as  well  as  his  son  Hollis,  were  prominent  men ;  the  latter 
was  an  aid  to  General  Crawford;  school  committee  over  thirty 
years;  representative;  and  filled  other  offices.  The  limited 
time  forbids  mention,  as  they  deserve,  of  many  others  equally 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  67 

prominent  and  influential,  such  as  Captain  Benjamin  Joslyn, 
Gideon  and  Philip  Delano  (the  latter  a  model  town  clerk  for 
thirty-four  years),  Elisha  Mathews,  Colonel  Roswell  Converse 
(who,  in  compliance  with  Dr.  Fiske's  wish,  bought  and  fitted 
a  parsonage,  running  the  risk  of  returns  for  the  investment), 
Josiah  Gleason,  Amasa  Bigelow,  James  Bowdoin,  Duke  Ham- 
ilton, the  Grangers,  the  Nyes,  the  Earles  and  scores  of  others 
(not  omitting  the  women),  some  of  whose  names  are  on  record 
and  more  not,  all  of  whom  contributed  equally,  by  private 
virtues  as  well  as  public  services,  to  make  the  town  in  a  pe- 
culiar sense  a  representative  New  England  town. 

I  wish  I  could  picture  to  your  mind  as  clearly  as  they  lie 
in  mine  and  as  faithfully  as  the  camera  has  preserved  their 
features,  the  particular  characteristics  of  the  men  and  women 
of  my  boyhood. 

They  constitute  a  gallery  of  mental  paintings  I  would  not 
willingly  dispense  with. 

Rev.  Mr.  Gurney  was  wont  to  say  that  he  doubted  if  another 
town  of  this  size  could  be  found  in  New  England  that  had 
as  diverse  and  as  striking  characters  as  this,  and  he  had  lived 
in  three  New  England  States.  Such  towns  now  are  rare. 
As  communication  becomes  easy  and  contact  frequent,  men 
lose  by  attrition,  as  pebbles  in  a  bag,  their  individuality  or 
learn  to  conceal  it. 

One  of  our  sons  gained  a  national  reputation.  I  refer  to 
Charles  Eames,  who  was  a  native  of  New  Braintree.  His 
mother  was  a  descendant  of  the  Ebenezer  Tidd  who  emigrated 
from  Lexington  to  this  place  in  1768.  He  was  fitted  for  college 
when  twelve  years  of  age,  but  did  not  enter  till  the  next  year. 
He  graduated  at  Harvard  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  the  first 
scholar  in  a  class  in  which  were  Wendell  Phillips  and  Motley, 
the  historian,  with  both  of  whom  his  friendship  lasted  till 
his  death.  In  early  life  he  acquired  fame  by  his  eloquence 
and  rare  oratorical  powers.  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Polk's 
administration  he  was  appointed  commissioner  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  to  make  a  commercial  treaty  with  that 
government,  which  he  accomplished.  President  Pierce 
appointed  him  Minister  Resident  at  Caracas,  Venezuela,  with 
which  government    he    also    negotiated    a    treaty.     On    his 


68  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

return  from  that  country  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  in 
Washington. 

During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  counsel  for  the 
Navy  Department  and  the  captors  in  all  the  prize  cases,  and 
for  the  Treasury  Department  in  all  the  cotton  cases.  It  was 
in  arguing  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  the 
great  prize  case  of  the  "Sir  William  Peel,"  in  which  William 
M.  Evarts  was  the  opposing  counsel,  that  he  was  stricken 
down  with  the  disease  that  terminated  fatally  in  two  months. 
He  rallied  sufficiently  in  a  month  to  appear  again  in  the1  Su- 
preme Court  as  counsel  for  the  navy  and  the  captors  in  the 
great  prize  case  of  the  "Grey  Jacket,"  involving  a  million 
of  dollars,  which  he  gained  for  the  government,  and  that 
ended  his  professional  career.  He  died  March  16,  1867,  in 
his  fifty-fifth  year.  For  many  years  his  house  was  a  great 
centre  of  celebrities  in  politics,  jurisprudence,  letters,  art  and 
society.  Governor  Andrew,  in  a  notice  of  his  death  which 
he  wrote  for  a  Boston  newspaper,  said:  "I  think  this  tribute 
is  due  to  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  the  first  scholar  in  his 
class  at  Cambridge,  and  a  lawyer  who  has  won  the  leading 
reputation  for  his  mastery  of  the  learning  of  Prize,  and  the 
various  other  questions  arising  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, involving,  as  they  do  under  our  special  national  statutes, 
a  great,  difficult  and  philosophical  branch  of  judicial  study. 

"Mr.  Eam.es  was  the  special  counsel  of  the  Treasury  De- 
partment in  all  the  great  cotton  cases,  in  which  he  has  dis- 
played alike  ingenuity  and  native  sagacity  and  skill. 

"Many  of  our  Massachusetts  people  will  always  remember 
the  house  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eames  as  the  most  hospitable, 
agreeable  and  attractive  house  in  Washington.  With  great 
simplicity,  but  with  every  charm  of  gracious  and  cordial  man- 
ners, they  received  constantly,  informally,  and  for  years. 
There  all  the  best  and  strongest  men  were  to  be  seen,  and 
though  not  exclusive  in  a  political  sense  in  their  friends.  Air. 
Eames  was  still,  while  with  democratic  antecedents,  warmly 
and  faithfully  loyal  to  the  most  advanced  ideas,  both  during 
and  since  our  struggle  with  the  rebels.  His  employment  pro- 
fessionally by  the  government  in  no  sense  seemed  to  compro- 
mise his  thorough  and  manly  regard  for  the  truth,  as  it  naturally 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  69 

lay  iii  the  mind  of  a  man  (mined  to  think,  and  educated  in 
the  original  ideas  of  Massachusetts.  To  his  birthplace,  to  his 
native  Commonwealth,  he  was  faithfully  and  warmly  attached." 

An  International  Episode. — "By  a  curious  coincidence,  just 
as  our  attention  is  turned  to  Mr.  Sandham's  notable  paint- 
ing of  the  'Battle  of  Lexington,'  I  have  received  a  call  today 
from  a  Scotch  gentleman  who  is  the  great-great-grandson  of 
Major  Pitcairn.  He  was  greatly  interested  in  our  Pitcairn 
pistols  and  other  relics,  and  spent  several  hours  in  looking 
about  town.  To  make  the  coincidence  still  more  striking,  his 
wife,  who  accompanied  him  (an  American  lady),  is  a  descen- 
dant of  Joseph  Tidd,  who  lived  in  the  old  Tidd  homestead, 
which  is  still  standing  in  Lexington,  and  whose  sons,  Benjamin 
and  John,  were  in  Captain  Parker's  company  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1775. 

"It  is  related  by  this  John  Tidd  that,  being  one  of  the  last 
to  leave  the  Common,  he  was  pursued  by  the  British,  struck 
down  and  robbed  of  his  arms.  At  the  same  time  his  cousin, 
Lieutenant  William  Tidd,  retreating  up  Hancock  Street,  was 
chased  by  a  British  officer  (supposed  to  be  Pitcairn),  who 
cried  out,  'Stop  or  you're  a  dead  man.'  The  plucky  lieuten- 
ant sprang  over  a  pair  of  bars,  made  a  stand,  took  aim  and 
fired  at  his  pursuer,  who  dodged  the  shot,  wheeled  about 
and  hastened  back  to  join  his  men.  That  a  descendant  of 
this  'Britisher'  should,  after  one  hundred  years,  marry  a 
descendant  of  this  'rebel,'  and  that  the  two  should  today 
come  with  eagerness  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  the  spot  where 
their  ancestors  fought  against  each  other,  is  a  fact  as  strange 
as  anything  in  fiction.  Cupid  has  healed  many  a  wound,  but 
he  was  more  than  usually  adroit  when  he  contrived  that  a 
Pitcairn  should  at  last  marry  a  Tidd." 

Any  individual  history  would  be  incomplete  without  refer- 
ence to  the  part  New  Braintree  bore  in  the  first  concerted 
movement  of  New  England  toward  the  Great  West,  in  the 
person  of  one  of  its  citizens,  John  Mathews;  born  in  New 
Braintree,  Dec.  18,  1765;  the  son  of  Daniel  and  Huldah  Put- 
nam Mathews;  a  nephew  of  General  Rufus  Putnam,  the  leader 
and  head  of  that  movement.  In  the  leader  himself  we  have 
a  joint  proprietorship,  as  for  seven  years,  from  1754  to  1761, 


70  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

he  was  really  as  much  a  citizen  of  New  Braintree  as  of 
Brookfield,  his  residence  being  a  part  of  that  time  with  his 
sister,  the  wife  of  Daniel  Mathews,  on  the  present  farm  of 
J.  Thomas  Webb,  and  the  other  part  on  his  own  farm  in  this 
town.  John  Mathews  was  one  of  the  original  forty-eight  con- 
stituting the  Ohio  Company,  which  landed  on  the  present 
site  of  Marietta,  0.,  April  7,  1788.  He  was  one  of  the  four 
surveyors  of  that  Company  and  himself  a  shareholder.  While 
engaged  in  surveying  the  territory  with  a  party  of  seven  he 
was  surprised  by  a  band  of  hostile  Indians.  He  alone  of  the 
party  escaped,  almost  naked,  to  tell  the  tale. 

Hildreth  in  his  "Pioneer  History  of  Ohio"  says  it  was  to 
Mathews's  diary  chiefly,  kept  through  the  earlier  years  of  the 
settlement,  that  Ohio  is  indebted  for  much  of  the  most  valu- 
able material  for  her  early  history.  His  biographer  writes  of 
him,  "He  was  one  of  the  most  useful,  active  and  clear-headed 
men  Ohio  ever  claimed  for  a  citizen." 

Here  I  lay  down  my  pen  with  regret.  If  I  have  tried 
your  patience  too  severely,  pardon  me,  and  remember  such 
an  occasion  occurs  but  once  in  many  generations.  My  labor 
has  been  one  of  love.  In  poring  over  these  pages  of  the  past, 
so  vivid  has  been  the  picture,  I  have  sometimes  seemed  to 
be  lost  to  the  present,  and  to  be  travelling  in  another  company, 
to  hear  the  voices  and  to  mingle  with  the  forms  of  the  men 
and  women  of  a  century  ago.  I  have  not  touched  upon  the 
living,  except  so  far  as  to  class  them;  nor  but  little  upon  the 
last  one-third  century  of  our  history.  That  is  not  my  province. 
The  historian  of  a  century  hence  will  perhaps  take  up  the 
tale  where  I  have  left  it,  and  report  of  us  whether  we  have 
done  good  or  ill.  Whether  this  town,  like  many  other  hill 
towns  from  which  the  tide  has  ebbed  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  will  ever  feel  the  effects  of  a  returning  wave  is  be- 
yond our  mind  to  ken. 

We  are  not  alone  in  our  decline;  many  of  our  sister  towns 
have  suffered  more  relatively  from  loss  of  prestige  than  we. 

Certain  it  is  that  we  have  our  soil  left  to  us,  and  of  the 
first  quality;  that  no  human  agency  can  take  from  us,  and 
good  soil  usually  grows  good  men  and  women. 

We  can  leave  our  community  life  where  we  do  our  indi- 


J.  THOMAS  WEBB. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  71 

victual,  in  the  hands  of  a  Providence  without  whose  notice 
not  even  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground. 

Singing   with   faith,   as   did    Bacon,    those   grand   words   of 
his,  that — 

•'  Here  thy  name,  O  God  of  love, 
Our  children's  children  shall  adore. 

Till  these  eternal  hills  remove, 

And  spring  adorns  the  earth  no  more." 


At  the  close  of  the  address,  which  occupied  one  hour  and 
forty  minutes  in  its  delivery  and  was  listened  to  with  close 
attention  throughout,  the  audience  which  filled  the  church 
to  its  utmost  capacity  and  the  many  unable  to  gain  admis- 
sion proceeded  to  the  Town  Hall,  where  a  traditional  New 
Braintree  dinner  was  served  by  Mr.  Charles  A.  Felton  and 
his  associates.  During  the  intermission  the  Colonial  Hall, 
containing  many  relics  and  antiquities,  presided  over  by  the 
Ladies'  Aid  Society,  was  thrown  open  and  thronged  with 
visitors.  There  were  also  in  the  hall  and  at  the  vestry  many 
crayon  sketches  and  oil  paintings  of  old  residents.  At  2.30 
p.  m.,  the  audience  in  the  church  was  again  called  to  order 
by  the  President,  and  the  following  sentiments  offered  and 
responses  made: 

1.     Our  Nation. 

In  response  Hon.  Geo.  F.  Hoar  sent  the  following  letter: 

Worcester,  Mass.,  May  31,  1901. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

I  regret,  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  accept  the  invitation 
with  which  the  people  of  New  Braintree  honor  me,  to  attend  the  cele- 
bration of  the  150th  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town 
June  19th.  I  cannot  do  so  without  disregarding  other  peremptory 
obligations. 

Be  assured  that  nothing  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to  take 
part  in  such  a  celebration  and  to  meet  your  citizens  on  such  an  occasion. 

I  had,  when  I  was  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  a  generation  ago,  many 
clients  and  honored  friends  among  the  people  of  New  Braintree.  It 
was  one  of  the  best  of  our  New  England  towns.  It  contributed  the 
best  of  jurymen  to  the  administration  of  justice,  the  best  legislators 
to  the  general  court,  and  examples  of  excellent  citizenship  to  the  body 


72  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  RRAINTREE. 

of  the  Commonwealth.     I   trust   it    may   always   maintain   its   ancient 
character. 

I  am,  with  high  regard. 

Faithfully   yours, 

GEO.  F.  HOAR. 
George  K.  Tufts,  Esq., 

New  Braintree,  Mass. 

2.  Our  State. 

In  response  the  following  letter  from  Win.  M.  (  Min,  Secre- 
tary of  Massachusetts,  was  read : 

June   3,    1901. 
George  K.  Tufts,  Esq., 

Chairman,  Committee  of  Arrangements, 
New  Braintree,  Mass. 
My  Dear  Sir: — 

I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yours  of  the  30th  of  .May. 
extending  an  invitation  to  me,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  New  Brain- 
tree, to  be  their  guest,  representing  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts, on  the  occasion  of  the  observance  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the  town. 

I  am  especially  interested  in  New  Braintree,  it  being  the  birthplace 
of  my  wife,  and  I  hardly  need  tell  you  that  it  would  give  me  great  pleas- 
ure to  accept  your  invitation,  were  it  possible.  I  am,  however,  so 
engaged  at  that  time  that  I  must  decline  the  honor  and  courtesy  wliit  h 
you  extend. 

Very  respectfully, 

WM.  M.  OLIN. 

3.  Our  Mother, — The  Town  of  Braintree. 

No  one  responded  to  this  sentiment,  nor  was  any  one  from 
Braintree  at  the  anniversary. 

4.  Our  Sons. 

In  response  Rev.  Nathan  Thompson  of  Baltimore,  Md., 
spoke  as  follows: 

REMARKS  OF  REV.  NATHAN  THOMPSON. 

Mr.   Chairman  and  Beloved  of  my  native  town: 

Vou  have  this  morning  heard  in  the  masterly  historical  address, 
and  seen  in  the  doings  of  today  the  wisdom  of  those  who  have  prepared 
for  this  notable  occasion.     I  am  inclined  to  tell  you  first  just  a  little 


REMARKS  OF  REV.  NATHAN  THOMPSON.         73 

of  their  folly.  To  the  cordial  circular  of  invitation  to  us  all  to  come 
up  here  today,  I  replied  that  it  seemed  quite  impracticable  for  me  to 
get  away  from  my  daily  cares  down  in  Maryland ;  but  that  I  would 
send  what  would  be  worth  vastly  more  to  the  town  than  would  my 
coming  up  and  eating  dinner  with  them  could  possibly  be.  But  they 
replied,  "  No,  no,  your  box  of  books  or  anything  else  will  not  be  accepted 
in  place  of  yourself.  Nothing  whatever  will  do  for  that  day  but  the 
old  boys  and  girls  themselves."  So,  obedient,  as  is  every  loyal  son, 
here  I  am.  But  these  New  Braintree  home-made  dinners  are  historic, 
those  feasts  our  mothers  used  to  spread!  Every  loyal  son  from  the 
farthest  of  earth's  corners  still  longs  for  them,  is  always  ready  to  tell 
of  them.  Conundrum:  Why  was  Eve  the  happiest  of  women?  Who 
answers?  Surely  you  know.  Because  Adam  could  not  keep  telling 
her  what  good  things  his  mother  used  to  make.  And  this  touches 
what  has  already  received  attention  most  suitably  in  the  historical 
address  of  the  morning, — those  ancestors  of  ours.  I,  too,  must  be 
allowed  to  make  a  little  reference  to  some  of  those  within  my  own  mem- 
ory. For  years,  it  has  been  my  wont  to  say,  "  There  were  giants  in 
those  days."  To  mention  any  names  would  be  wellnigh  invidious. 
But  we  recall  the  town  meetings  of  our  boyhood  when,  at  the  opening 
of  those  deliberations,  the  venerated  pastor  invoked  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  upon  that  body  of  bowed  heads  deliberating  for  human  wel- 
fare, that  little  local  assembly,  the  best  form  of  government  the  world 
ever  saw. 

And  then  those  preliminary  courts,  two  of  which  were  in  our  boyhood 
against  incendiaries, — who  does  not  recall  that  more  than  Roman 
majesty  with  which  the  oath  was  administered  to  the  witnesses,  so 
impressively  that  divine  obligation  must  have  been  felt  as  resting 
upon  them  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth. 
And  the  story  of  the  beginning  of  the  temperance  reformation  came 
often  to  our  boyhood  ears,  that  if  the  farmer  did  not  prepare  for  getting 
his  hay  by  getting  a  barrel  of  New  England  rum,  he  would  never  succeed ; 
his  hay  would  rot  in  the  field;  that  sharp,  unpleasant  voice,  worthy 
to  echo  down  the  centuries,  rung  out,  "  Let  it  rot  then."  But  many 
of  us  bear  witness  that  it  never  did  rot,  nor  did  the  value  of  that  farm 
depreciate.  We  younger  ones  had  our  models  in  those  sterling  men. 
What  they  did  was  well  done.  These  roads,  the  pride  of  all  the  country 
round,  bear  testimony  to  it.  These  thrifty  farms,  these  well  kept 
homes,  were  unsurpassed  by  any  in  the  Commonwealth.  I  recall  that 
thirty-nine  years  ago  this  present  summer,  revisiting  for  a  Sunday,  1 
invited  to  come  with  me  two  very  choice  young  lad y  friends.  As  we 
drove  around  over  the  quarters  of  the  town  these  neatly  kept  homes 
were  so  much  admired  that  one  of  them  exclaimed,  "  How  good !  I 
would  be  willing  to  make  my  home  in  one  of  them."  To  this  day  I 
cannot  tell  what,  save  my  native  shyness,  kept  me  from  then  and  there 
responding,  "me,  too." 


74  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

And  this  church,  repaired  in  1847,  whose  history  was  so  fully  re- 
counted this  morning,  bears  testimony  to  those  good  works.  Its  work 
was  so  well  done  that  you  see  it  now  substantially  as  it  was  then,  over 
a  half-century  ago. 

And  finally  our  schools.  They,  too,  were  the  outcome  of  the  high 
devotion  of  these  homes.  Doubtless  our  studies  did  not  take  so  wide 
a  range  as  they  do  today,  but  within  our  more  limited  range  we  thought 
well,  we  worked  well.  And  I  stand  here  today  to  insist  that  the  two 
fundamentals  to  a  good  education  are  good  thought  and  good  worl. 
George,  bring  out  that  class  in  arithmetic,  and  have  them  repeat  the 
rule  for  computing  interest  on  partial  payment  notes.  Tell  these  of 
today  how  we  worried  over  those  examples  in  Colburn,  that  one  of 
the  men  driving  his  geese  to  market,  and  the  passerby  could  not  tell 
from  the  way  he  put  it  how  many  geese  there  were,  and  so  we  had  to 
work  it  out  for  him.  Abby,  don't  you  remember  those  four  women 
who  were  partners  in  a  ball  of  butter,  and  when  each  was  going  to  take 
her  share  from  the  surface  of  the  ball,  they  got  into  a  scold  as  to  how 
much  each  one's  share  should  be,  and  we  had  to  come  in  to  keep  the 
peace  by  working  it  out  in  those  forms  of  cube  root  for  them?  And 
then  the  geography.  Marcus  will  remember  how  we  recited  about 
our  country  beyond  the  Missouri  River,  then  "  an  almost  unexplored 
region,  over  which  roam  vast  herds  of  deer,  buffalo,  Indians  and  other 
wild  horses."  Recall  the  teachers  we  had:  James  Miller,  Henry  M. 
Daniels,  William  Bowdoin,  John  Gorham.  Have  you  better  how? 
Perhaps.  You  ought  to  have,  on  the  theory  of  progress.  I  under- 
stand with  pleasure  that  you  have  an  excellent  sample  here  at  the 
Centre.     But  those  of  our  time  led  us  well. 

Here  I  would  like  to  turn  Methodist  and  hold  a  little  experience 
meeting.  My  home,  the  ministries  of  this  Church,  nurtured  in  me  a 
belief  in  religion.  It  was  made  so  reasonable,  so  true  that  I  have  never 
questioned  it.  Yet,  somehow,  from  these  alone  it  never  entwined 
itself  into  my  life  for  an  eternal  unity,  a  living  force.  For  this  con- 
necting power  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  school.  Those  declamations' 
so  many  of  which  I  learned  in  the  school  close  by, — from  Webster  at 
Bunker  Hill  and  in  the  Senate;  from  Choate  in  his  marvellous  eulogy 
on  Webster,  in  which  he  brought  to  our  life  the  visions  of  the  old  pro- 
phets of  the  last  days  of  Israel  and  of  Judah ;  from  Shakspeare's  Wolsey, 
"Oh,  Cromwell,  Cromwell,  had  I  but  served  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
I  served  my  king,  he  would  not  in  mine  age  have  left  me  naked  to  mine 
enemies";  Longfellow,  with  his  delightful  exhibit  of  the  village  black- 
smith, always  at  the  forge  during  the  week,  but  always  at  church  on 
Sunday.  These  and  such  as  these,  as  I  now  recall  it,  brought  my 
thoughts  to  their  high  conclusion,  that  if  my  life  was  ever  to  amount 
to  anything,  these  two  must  be  well  inwrought  in  me,  must  be  like 
the  right  and  left,  eye,  producing  the  most  perfect  sight  by  being  focused 
as   one    upon    every    object,      I    felt    deeply    the   wisdom   of  the   fathers 


REMARKS    OF    WALTER    ALLEN.  75 

when  they  built  the  church  and  the  school-house  side  by  side,  and 
each  home  on  the  several  surrounding  hills  became  a  fortress  to  guard 
this  sacred  citidel  from  every  intrusion  of  evil.  You  may  remember 
the  story  of  the  Irishman,  who  in  the  earlier  day  came  to  New  York, 
interesting  himself  in  the  church  of  his  choice.  By  and  by  they  built 
a  sumptuous  house  of  worship.  He  was  proud  of  it,  and  when  the 
later  brother  Mike  came  over,  one  of  his  first  interests  was  to  show  him 
the  magnificent  church.  Mike  looked  around  quite  bewildered  by  the 
elaborate  architecture.  Presently  he  exclaimed,  "  Pat,  Pat,  this  beats 
the  divil."  "  Yis,  yis,"  says  Pat,  "don't  ye  know  that's  the  intintion." 
Such  was  manifestly  the  intention  of  our  fathers.  And  now  my  last 
word  is,  to  us  who  go  forth,  to  never  cease  to  hold  high  fealty  to  this, 
our  little  Jerusalem.  To  you  who  remain,  to  never  cease  to  preserve 
with  sacred  care  these  high  bequests,  that  in  the  ages  to  come  our  town 
shall  never  fail  to  hold  the  high  position  which  it  has  in  the  years  that 
are  gone. 

5.     Our  Sons-in-Law. 

Responded  to  by  Walter  Allen  of  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  Boston  Herald. 

REMARKS  OF  WALTER  ALLEN. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

Those  who  are  responsible  for  the  arrangements  of  this  celebration 
appear  to  possess  a  surprising  degree  of  temerity.  If  we  may  trust 
the  alleged  witty  newspapers  of  the  times,  sons-in-law  are  not  expected 
to  have  even  a  respectful,  to  say  nothing  of  an  affectionate,  regard 
for  mothers-in-law.  You  have  heard  of  that  presumably  typical  son- 
in-law  who,  while  travelling  abroad,  received  a  telegram  to  this  effect: 
"  Mother-in-law  dead.  Shall  we  bury,  embalm  or  cremate?"  to  which 
he  promptly  replied,  "  Embalm,  cremate  and  bury.     Take  no  chances." 

That  you,  sir,  have  had  the  courage  to  invite  me  to  speak  to  the 
sentiment  sons-in-law  betokens,  on  your  part,  either  a  high  degree  of 
confidence  in  the  merits,  the  captivating  merits,  of  this  venerable  town, 
or  a  sure  sense  of  the  disciplinary  talent  of  her  through  whom  I  sus- 
tain to  the  town  the  relation  of  son-in-law.  You  who  are  right  sons 
and  daughters  of  New  Braintree  may  be  pardoned  any  degree  of  af- 
fection for  your  dear  mother.  I  am  myself  conscious  of  the  energetic 
and  controlling  discipline  of  the  fair  daughter  I  took  away  from  her; 
but  I  did  not  suppose  everybody  else  knew  it  too. 

Probably  I  should  never  have  attained  the  honor  of  being  a  son- 
in-law  of  New  Braintree  if  I  had  not  first  been  a  kind  of  foster-son. 
It  happened,  long  before  I  was  old  enough  to  give  advice  in  the  matter, 
that  my  father's  sister  became  the  wife  of  two  estimable  citizens  of 
this  town, — successively,   I  mean,   not  simultaneously.     One  of  them 


76  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

was  Elisha  Warren,  the  other  was  Deacon  Welcome  Newell.  I  do 
not  well  remember  the  former  of  these  uncles,  but  the  latter  I  remem- 
ber, with  a  distinct  awe  of  his  dignity  and  rather  severe  piety,  until 
this  day,  although  he  died  when  I  was  in  my  early  teens.  At  his  home 
— the  elder  among  you  know  where  it  was — I  was  a  frequent  visitor, 
attracted  thereto,  not  so  much  by  the  good  man,  as  by  my  cheery  aunt, 
and  by  my  two  jolly  cousins,  Eliza  and  Mary  Warren,  who  feared  him 
as  bravely  as  I  did.  For  several  weeks  of  one,  summer  I  was  rusticated 
there  for  the  sake  of  my  health  and  my  morals.  My  fond  parents  felt 
sure  I  could  not  go  far  astray  so  long  as  I  was  subject  to  Deacon  Newell's 
watchful  eye. 

That  summer  I  attended  the  Fort  Hill  school.  I  do  not  remember 
who  taught  it,  but  I  recall  that  I  used  to  fill  my  pockets  with  blue- 
berries on  the  way  and  empty  them  into  a  much-whittled  desk,  from 
which  I  fed  myself  from  time  to  time  during  the  sessions.  Blueberries 
are  not  so  sweet  now  as  they  used  to  be.  Few  other  things  are.  Wives 
are  an  exception  to  this  rule.  They  sweeten  as  they  ripen  and  whiten. 
Once  I  did  not  think  it  could  be  possible.  Perhaps  it  is  a  peculiarity 
of  those  born  in  New  Braintree,  but  I  have  no  experience  by  which 
to  make  comparisons. 

On  a  later  spring  day,  a  day  in  May,  when  I  was  old  enough  to  be 
trusted  with  the  family  horse,  my  sister  and  I  came  from  Worcester 
by  ourselves  to  visit  our  cousins.  On  the  occasion  of  that  visit  our 
cousins  gave  a  party.  That  party,  I  may  say,  was  the  crisis  of  my 
life.  Then  I  got  acquainted  with  the  best  there  was  in  the  town,  and 
some  of  it  has  remained  the  best  ever  since.  The  young  acquaintances, 
I  am  happy  to  say,  have  grown  into  old  friends.  I  see  around  me  several 
who  were  present  on  that  joyous  day.  As  many,  or  more,  are  not 
here.  Some  have  passed  from  the  green  fields  of  earth  to  the  realm 
which  our  faith  pictures  as  "ever  bright  and  fair."  All  of  us  have 
recollections  today  of  dear  friends  whom  we  shall  not  see  again  with 
our  mortal  eyes.  Whether  they  behold  us,  whether  they  participate 
in  our  glad,  reverent  festival,  we  cannot  know.  It  is  our  privilege  to 
remember  them  tenderly  as  sometime  sharers  of  our  life  here  in  New 
Braintree. 

From  that  day  I  began  hoping  that  sometime  I  might  become  a 
son-in-law  of  New  Braintree.  It  was  a  boyish  hope,  but  an  ardent 
one,  of  which  I  never  lost  hold  until  it  was  accomplished  some  thir- 
teen years  afterward.  I  am  here  to  testify  that  I  am  glad  of  it.  What 
is,  perhaps,  more  to  the  purpose,  my  children  are  glad  of  it.  They 
have  been  brought  up  to  love  and  honor  their  grandmother  ami  they 
like  to  spend  a  good  deal  of  time  with  her.  She  has  been  good  to  them 
in  their  youth,  as  she  was  good  to  me  in  my  youth.  Her  sweet  face 
and  abounding  friendliness  have  had  due  share  in  the  moulding  of  their 
characters,  and  I  am  sure  tl:e\  will  be  better  men  and  women  because 
of  her  gracious  influence. 


REMARKS    OF    WALTER    ALLEN.  77 

The  next  spring  I  came  again  for  a  longer  stay,  having  grown  so 
large  that  I  was  thought  able  to  do  chores  and  help  on  the. farm.  I 
did  whatever  a  boy  who  is  the  only  helper  on  a  farm  is  expected  to  do. 
Much  of  it  was  pleasant  enough,  but  some  of  it  seemed  to  me  tough. 
The  task  that  made  the  most  permanent  impression  on  my  mind  was 
one  of  picking  up  stones  in  a  large  field  that  had  been  cultivated  the 
year  before.  The  Deacon's  backbone  was  a  stiff  one  and  did  not  easily 
bend  to  such  employment.  T  had  to  work  alone,  gathering  the  stones 
in  a  basket  and  making  piles  of  them,  here  and  there.  I  think  there 
never  were  so  many  loose  stones  on  an  equal  space.  They  grew  out 
of  the  ground  like  weeds.  No  matter  how  cleanly  I  picked  them  up 
in  any  spot,  new  ones  came  to  the  surface  during  the  night.  When 
tin-  long  task  was  done,  the  ground  was  covered  with  heaps  tint  nearly 
touched  one  another.  The  work  appeared  to  have  been  as  nearly 
useless  as  any  work  could  be.  Not  till  later  dir!  I  apprehend  that  prob- 
ably  the  main  purpose  of  il  may  have  been  to  make  stone-throwing 
distasteful.  I  wouldn't  now  pick  up  a  stone,  even  to  shy  it  at  a  chip- 
munk. 

That  summer's  experience  did  something  more.  Perhaps  it  isn't 
quite  complimentary  to  say  so  in  this  town,  but  it  disenchanted  me 
of  a  farmer's  life.  Not  even  the  occasional  privilege,  after  milking, 
of  riding  the  Deacon's  gray  mare  bareback  to  town  to  see  my  best  girl, 
overcame  my  dislike  for  a  life  that  included  cleaning  New  Braintree 
fields  of  stones.  My  good  father  unintentionally  confirmed  my  indis- 
position bj-  requiring  me  at  home  to  weed  garden  beds  in  the  season 
when  kites  flew  and  roundball  was  ripe.  Roundball  is  not  played 
now.  I  wish  you  to  believe  that  as  a  boy  I  was  naturally  industrious; 
but  I  had  a  strong  preference  among  occupations.  The  ones  that  I 
liked  I  could  follow  as  willingly  and  tirelessly  as  any  boy  you  ever  knew. 

There  were  sane  and  clever  young  fellows  who  aspired  to  marry  a 
farm  when  they  got  old  enough.  1  never  attempted  to  get  in  their 
way;  nor  did  I  ever  feel  any  jealousy  of  their  success,  if  good  fortune 
attended  them.  I  was  always  modestly  conscious  that  I  had  not  the 
talent  necessary  for  prospering  under  such  a  responsibility. 

I  have  no  mind  to  utter  a  word  of  disparagement  of  the  usefulness 
and  satisfactions  of  farming.  I  join  in  all  your  praises  of  it.  The 
proof  of  my  respect  for  the  leading  industry  of  New  Braintree  is  that 
I  have  given  my  wife  and  children  a  five-acre  farm  among  you  to  carry 
on —  stipulating  that  I  would  do  no  work  on  it,  and  that  they  should 
not  attempt  to  make  it  productive,  except  in  the  way  of  recreation 
and  health.  It  is  well  supplied  with  stones,  and  we  let  them  stay  where- 
ever  they  happen  to  be.  This  I  am  sure  is  the  only  way  in  which  I 
could  be  a  farmer  and  escape  low  spirits  and  bankruptcy.  I  have  a 
notion  that  my  wife  might  be  a  successful  farmer  in  the  ordinary  way, 
if  she  had  a  chance;  but  she  has  shown  her  superiority  in  so  many 
ways  already,  that  I  am  as  humble  before  her  as  it  is  comfortable  for 


78  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

a  husband  to  be.  Hence,  so  long  as  I  am  able  to  scratch  paper  with 
a  pen,  I  shall  give  her  no  large  opportunity  to  scratch  land  with  a  hoe. 
But,  Mr.  President.  I  think  I  must  have  overpassed  the  limit  of  time 
yon  imposed.  I  know  that  I  was  invited,  not  so  much  to  make  a  speech, 
as  to  exhibit  myself  as  an  example  of  a  son-in-law  who  rejoices  in  his 
mother-in-law,   honors  her  sincerely,  and  is  grateful. 

6.     Engrafted  Stock. 

Response  by  Rev.  Jeremiah  J.  Healy  of  Gloucester. 

REMARKS  OF  REV.  J.  J.  HEALY. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  friends  old  and  young: 

I  am  glad  to  meet  you  here  on  this  your  gala  day,  to  recall  fond  mem- 
ories of  the  past,  wherein  you  all  seem  likely  to  take  a  friendly  interest. 
I  am  glad  to  meet  after  so  long  a  waiting  the  companions  of  my  youth, 
even  though  it  be  for  only  an  hour  or  two,  to  exchange  affectionate 
greetings,  and  recall  those  memories  of  half  a  century  ago. 

It  was  just  fifty-one  years  ago  that  I,  a  lad  fifteen  years  old,  landed 
in  your  town  direct  from  old  Ireland  in  midsummer,  with  your  farms 
perhaps  the  greenest  and  finest  in  New  England  in  full  bloom,  with 
a  good  supply  of  apple-trees  shedding  their  delicious  fruit,  free  to  every 
passerby  without  leave  or  hindrance,  and  even  the  pleasantly  shaded 
roadsides  yielding  an  abundant  crop  of  raspberries,  blackberries,  huckle- 
berries and  blueberries,  in  bewildering  profusion ;  it  was  with  me  a 
serious  question  whether  the  garden  of  Eden  could  afford  a  residence 
more  delightful. 

My  first  acquaintances  were  in  the  school-room,  some  of  whom  I 
meet  today  for  the  first  time  in  so  many  years.  Half  a  century  having 
in  the  meantime  come  and  gone,  has  carried  with  it  its  quota  of  familiar 
faces,  leaving  few  even  of  our  own  youthful  companions  to  rehearse 
the  stories  of  those  happiest  days  of  our  life.  In  the  fall  of  that  year, 
1850,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  young  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
your  town  in  your  High  School,  of  which  I  was  the  junior  member. 
They  are  now  the  venerable  seniors  of  your  society,  whom  I  am  so 
pleased  to  meet  here  today.  High  schools  were  not  such  common 
property  then,  as  you  may  infer  from  the  fee,  however  small,  of  three 
dollars  apiece  per  quarter  which  we  had  to  pay.  Greek  and  Latin 
classics  had  no  place  in  that  school.  And  it  could  hardly  be  called 
High  were  it  not  for  a  copy  of  Euclid  which  the  teacher  found  in  my 
possession,  and  introduced  to  two  or  three  others,  who  never  seemed 
to  fully  appreciate  its  beauties.  Grammar  seemed  to  be  more  to  their 
liking,  especially  the  verb  "to  love,"  wherein  they  made  such  rapid 
progress,  that  soon  after  that  term  we  witnessed  several  marriages. 
I  mention  this  as  suggestive  of  an  occasional  experiment  of  those  old 
fashioned  High  Schools,  now  that  happy  marriages  have  become  scarce, 


REMARKS    OF    REV.    J.    J.    HEALY.  79 

with  divorces  so  numerous,  as,  if  I  mistake  not,  even  an  application 
for  divorce  has  never  been  even  thought  of  in  this  class  of  happy 
marriages. 

The  venerable  Dr.  Fiske  was  then  spiritual  director  of  this  commu- 
nity, whose  texts  were  always  taken  from  the  scriptures,  and  never 
from  sensational  newspapers,  as  in  this  progressive  age.  Once  while 
returning  from  my  theological  studies  in  Baltimore,  I  sat  by  a  gentle- 
man quite  learned  in  his  own  conceit,  and  somehow  suspecting  me 
for  a  student,  possibly  from  some  book  which  I  may  have  been  reading, 
he  became  very  social  and  communicative.  Among  a  variety  of  other 
things  he  told  me  of  having  in  his  youth  worked  on  one  of  your  New 
Braintree  farms,  and  attending  the  meetings  of  Dr.  Fiske,  declaring 
that,  however  young,  he  knew  better  than  to  accept  his  horrid  doc- 
trine of  hell  and  damnation.  This  being  nearly  forty  years  ago,  the 
gentleman  has  by  this  time  perhaps  gone  over  to  join  the  grand  ma- 
jority, and  were  he  to  appear  among  us  today  and  give  us  his  more 
recent  experience,  he  might  speak  more  respectfully  of  the  preaching 
of  the  venerable  Dr.  Fiske. 

The  New  Braintree  farmers  of  those  days  impressed  me  as  a  religious 
body  of  men,  punctually  answering  the  Sabbath  bell  in  broadcloth 
and  handsome  carriages,  with  their  families.  With  few  bank-books 
they  appeared  quite  aristocratic,  with  tea  invitations  printed  in  the 
latest  fashion,  and  sent  forth  with  as  much  regularity  and  etiquette 
as  may  be  now  found  among  the  famous  four  hundred  of  Boston  or 
New  York.  And  all  this  with  butter  only  a  shilling  a  pound,  and  po- 
tatoes only  thirty  cents  a  bushel.  After  this  brief  review  of  New  Brain- 
tree half  a  century  ago,  I  will  now  take  up  the  part  assigned  me  in  your 
programme,  the  "Engrafted  Stock,"  of  which  I  may  be  considered 
a  branch,  however  unworthy.  Having  listened  with  pleasure  to  the 
well  merited  praise,  so  eloquently  bestowed  by  the  orator  of  the  day 
on  the  lords  of  the  soil,  as  the  first  settlers  may  be  called,  now  a  few 
words  on  the  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  may  not  be  deemed 
too  much  on  a  gala  day  like  this,  when  everybody  expects  a  share  of 
what  is  going.  In  a  country  like  this,  so  recently  a  wilderness,  with 
the  riches  so  generally  drawn  out  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  laborer, 
they  seem  entitled  to  a  generous  share  in  all  these  popular  demonstra- 
tions. In  this  great  country  there  is  a  place  with  plenty  of  room  for 
everybody,  and  useful  and  needful  work  for  all  classes  of  men  to  do. 
Brawn  and  brain  seems  equally  needful  and  necessary,  especially  in 
laying  the  foundation  deep  and  solid  of  the  great  country  which  this 
seems  destined  to  become  in  God's  overruling  providence.  Everything 
great  and  grand  in  nature  and  in  art  has  its  small  beginnings,  gradual 
development  and  growth,  having  in  ever}'  stage  of  its  existence  elements, 
however  varied,  equally  necessary  and  important.  We  cannot  over- 
estimate the  priceless  value  of  recent  grand  discoveries  of  steam,  elec- 
tricity  and   telegraphy.     And   yet   of   what   comparative   little   worth 


80  ANNIVERSARY"  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

for  another  hundred  years  these  great  discoveries,  were  it  not  for  that 
grand  army  of  industrious  laborers  sent  us  from  across  the  sea,  to  enable 
us  to  utilize  these  grand  possibilities. 

Tt  is  to  the  patient  toil  and  industry  of  these  poor  humble  people 
we  owe  our  long  lines  of  canals  and  railroads,  uniting  the  great  East 
and  West,  North  and  South;  connecting  our  Massachusetts  Bay  with 
Lake  Erie,  and  Chicago,  the  metropolis  of  the  West;  and  along  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  in  one  continuous 
line  of  varied  industries,  manufactures  and  commerce,  daily  increasing 
indefinitely  and  beyond  all  computation  this  great  nation's  wealth 
and  population. 

And  coming  nearer  to  our  immediate  subject,  these  humble  sons 
of  toil  having  finished  the  railroads,  next  turned  your  byways  into 
highways,  making  everywhere  the  rough  way  smooth  and  ready  for 
the  bicycle  and  automobile.  And  upon  the  completion  of  the  public 
works,  you  hired  these  laborers  at  your  own  prices,  so  cheap  that  your 
farms  flourished  as  never  since,  blooming  like  gardens,  with  their  golden 
harvest  furnishing  rich  freightage  and  dividends  to  the  adjacent  rail- 
roads. It  is  thus  when  we  explore  the  sources  of  our  national  wealth. 
we  find  the  pick  and  shovel  brigade,  lost  sight  of  in  the  distance,  so 
largely  accountable  for  such  grand  results.  And  our  fond  recollection 
of  the  golden  age  of  New  England  farmers  half  a  century  ago  reminds 
us  of  the  fact  that  for  one  hundred  dollars  for  eight  long  months,  with 
about  sixteen  long  hours  for  a  day's  work,  they  could  select  their  best 
men;  and  for  $1.50  per  week,  and  even  less,  find  willing  servant  girls 
up  and  dressed,  with  milkcans  ready  for  the  milkers  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  Now  with  the  loss  of  this  class  of  labor,  you  see  the 
change  in  the  looks  of  the  farms  and  farmhouses,  and  hear  it  in  the 
despondent  tones  of  the  farmers.  For  they  tell  me  that  these  Irish 
laborers,  following  the  example  of  their  Yankee  neighbors,  have  also 
taken  to  the  villages  and  cities  in  quest  of  more  pay  and  less  labor. 
And  now  you  must  await  the  arrival  of  Polanders,  whose  first  lesson 
in  English  is  a  rise  in  their  wages.  And  they  say  the  cows,  not  under- 
standing this  strange  language,  are  slow  to  accept  their  invitation  to 
milking  at  so  early  an  hour.  All  of  which  militates  against  the  fanners, 
who  must  revise  their  methods,  if  they  be  not  left  too  far  behind  in 
the  new  race. 

How  to  do  this  I  do  not  regard  as  a  matter  so  very  difficult.  But 
it  requires  time  beyond  the  limits  of  the  lew  minutes  at  our  disposal 
today.  In  the  meantime  I  would  advise  the  farmers  to  figure  upwards 
with  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  not  to  seek  any  longer  the  impossible 
and  undesirable  lower  prices  for  labor.  For  in  a  republic  with  uni- 
versal suffrage,  the  laborers  are  the  legislators,  very  naturally  always 
in  favor  of  less  labor  and  higher  wages.  And  fortunately  it  is  not  in 
the  spirit  of  the  times  nor  of  this  progressive  country,  to  deny  the 
laborer  a  lair  and   liberal  remuneration. 


REMARKS    OF    REV.    J.    J.    HEALY.  81 

I  find  a  new  element  in  this  community,  the  Irish  farmer,  who  may 
not  unreasonably  expect  of  me  a  few  words,  this  being  my  first  and 
possibly  last  address  before  them.  I  rejoice,  as  so  must  you  all,  in  their 
ambition  to  possess  the  land.  The  ambition  to  own  their  own  houses 
and  the  soil  they  cultivate,  this  instinct,  laudable  in  all  men,  has  been 
specially  characteristic  of  the  Irish  race,  nearly  all  farmers  in  their  own 
country.  For  this  righteous  privilege  they  have  long  fought  in  their 
native  land,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  they  are  not  slow  to  appreciate  the 
privilege  here  in  the  green  fields  of  America. 

I  rejoice  with  them,  as  so  do  you  all,  for  the  changes  from  fifty  years 
ago,  when  they  could  not  help  feeling  that  they  were  strangers  in  a 
strange  land,  having  to  go  twenty  miles  to  bury  their  dead  in  conse- 
crated ground,  or  find  a  priest  whenever  needed.  Now  nearly  every 
town  has  its  own  church  and  priest,  even  this  little  town  of  yours  having 
given  out  of  its  then  five  Catholic  families  three  priests  to  the  church. 
This  county  has  today  more  Catholics  than  were  then  in  the  entire 
Commonwealth.  Boston  arch-diocese  alone  has  now  half  a  million, 
and  we  have  over  a  million  in  the  entire  State.  I  mention  this,  not 
in  the  spirit  of  vain  boasting,  but  rather  of  encouragement  and  thanks- 
giving. So  much  enmity  and  opposition  to  us  then  came  from  igno- 
rance. We  have  outlived  all  the  slanders  and  sill}'  misrepresentations 
of  Know-nothingism  and  A.  P.  A. ism.  The  trials  and  tribulations  of 
the  nation  even  in  that  short  period,  with  its  three  wars,  the  last  waged 
against  a  Catholic  nation,  with  a  generous  quota  of  our  people  march- 
ing shoulder  to  shoulder  with  their  Protestant  neighbors,  furnished 
ample  vindication  of  the  patriotism,  at  the  cost  of  their  lives,  of  your 
Catholic  fellow  citizens.  And  with  all  this  history  of  heroic  daring 
and  sacrifice  in  defense  of  our  adopted  country,  now  found  in  every 
library  and  in  almost  every  home,  we  have  nothing  to  expect  in  the 
future  from  this  grateful  and  generous  nation  but  our  fair  share  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes.  With  our  ever  increasing  numbers,  and  thanks  to 
our  good  Irish  women,  ever  virtuous,  faithful  and  true,  one-half  of  the 
daily  births  being  now  of  Catholic  parents,  we  have  in  the  future  but 
to  exercise  our  right  of  suffrage,  and  go  shares  with  the  best  of  them. 
It  is  thus  New  England  is  fast  becoming  New  Ireland.  Nor  need  any- 
body see  in  this  an}-  cause  for  alarm.  It  will  only  make  our  people  all 
the  more  interested,  loyal  and  American.  In  the  teaching  of  our  church, 
patriotism  comes  next  to  Godliness,  or  rather  is  a  part  of  Godliness. 
The  more  pious  and  Catholic  you  are,  the  better  and  more  loyal  citizens. 
Another  element  of  hope  and  encouragement  may  be  found  in  the  com- 
mon cause  and  object  of  our  coming  to  this  country.  Your  Puritan 
fathers  all  came  here  to  escape  English  oppression  and  tyranny.  For 
the  same  reason  have  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Erin  come  here  to  escape 
the  same  common  enemy,  and  find  homes  where  they  may  freely  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience.  And  in  this 
common  cause  we  have  another  powerful  motive  to  weld  both  races 
the  more  solidlv  into  eternal  sympathy  and  good  fellowship. 
6 


82 


ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 


7.     A  Lineal  Descendant  of  the  First  Settler,  Capt.  Eleazer 
Warner. 

Response  by  Dr.  Emerson  Warner  of  Worcester. 

REMARKS  OF  DR.  EMERSON  WARNER. 
A  Lineal  Descendant. 


Fifteen  hundred  ninety-five  records  the  birth  of  William  Warner, 
son  of  Samuel  Warner  of  Boxted,   Essex   County,  England. 

The  line  is  traced  through  William,  John,  Samuel,  Eleazer,  Eleazer  2d, 
Phineas,  Phineas  2d,  Amory  P.  and  then  the  speaker.  William  came 
to  this  country  in   1737,  and  settled  in  Ipswich,  this  State. 

Eleazer  2d  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  dis- 
trict of  which  New  Braintree  is  now.  a  part. 

In  the  line  are  not  found  presidents  or  millionaires  or  men  of  world 
renown.  Such  men  came  later.  The  profession  of  these  men  was 
that   of  the  first  man, — a  farmer,   a  tiller  of  the  soil. 

They  took  up  the  work  where  the  Creator  left  it.  They  caused  the 
earth  to  bring  forth  cereals  and  fruits.  Nature  was  their  teacher.  It 
was  necessary  to  study  her  laws  and  obey  them.  It  was  his  part  to 
co-operate  and  develop  the  work  of  the  Creator.  The  same  Teacher 
presides  today,  and  the  faithful,  earnest,  intellectual  pupil  can  acquire 
knowledge  of  greatest   value. 

The  ground  has  not  yet  yielded  all  its  wealth,  all  its  revenue.  The 
flocks  furnished  them  the  wool.  The  housewife  did  the  spinning.  In 
those  days  the  towns  were  prominent, — the  cities  were  small.  The 
golf  of  those  times  was  with  the  hoe,  scythe  and  sickle. 

The  cattle-shows  furnished  prizes  for  the  best  dairy  products.  The 
horse  did  his  racing  on  the  way  to  and  from  the  show. 

This  early  ancestor  Eleazer  found  the  Indian,  his  predecessor,  a 
troublesome  fellow,  disposed  to  test  his  right  to  possess  and  till  the 
ground.  This  made  of  him  a  warrior  and  gave  him  title  of  Captain. 
By  winning  a  victory  in  a  personal  encounter  with  an  Indian,  his  life 
was  saved. 

The  Indian  wars,  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  the  French  and  Indian 
and  the  later  Civil  war,  all  drew  from  the  line  and  its  immediate  branches 
to  help  fill  the  ranks. 

Officers  appear  among  them,  from  corporal,  lieutenant,  captain  to 
one  major-general,  Jonathan  Warner.  Town,  civil  and  church  officials 
are   numerous,   filling   the   varied   places   of   responsibility   and   power. 

So  far  as  known,  the  line  has  never  furnished  a  witch  or  other  subject 
for  a  Salem  hangman  or  for  prison  or  insane  asylum. 


REMARKS  OF  DR.  EMERSON  WARNER.         83 

The  homestead  from  which  the  present  descendant  came  remains, 
hut  the  name  of  its  owner  is  changed. 

This  late  and  last  descendant  early  abandoned  the  horticultural  pro- 
fession,— as  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  says,  "The  original  calling  of  the 
race,"  "  The  beauty  of  Nature,  the  tranquillity  and  innocence  of  the 
countryman,  his  independence  and  his  pleasing  arts,  the  care  of  bees, 
of  poultry,  of  sheep,  of  cows,  the  dairy,  the  care  of  hay,  of  fruits,"— 
and  betook  himself  to  the  school  and  college.  The  transfer  of  the  far- 
mer's son  to  the  life  and  sedentary  habits  of  the  scholar  and  teacher 
was  attended  with  somewhat  heavy  drafts  upon  the  capital  of  health 
of  which  the  schoolboy  was  possessed  as  he  entered  the  classic  halls. 
Not  aware  of  the  immutability  of  the  laws  of  Nature,  and  no  teacher 
by  to  raise  the  alarm,  "  many  offenses  were  committed  against  stomach, 
muscles,  lungs  and  brain."  "Penitence,"  which  Carlyle  says,  "of  all 
the  acts  of  man  is  the  most  divine,"  has  followed  with  its  discipline, 
and  constant  watchfulness  ever  since  lias  been  maintained  in  compen- 
sation. 

Fifteen  years  ago  professional  life  was  interrupted  by  illness,  and 
as  time  has  since  shown,  it  was  practically  closed. 

After  slow  and  tedious  convalescence  a  measure  of  health  has  been 
secured,  and  largely,  it  would  seem,  by  much  travelling  on  the  water. 
This  has  resulted  in  twenty  times  crossing  the  Atlantic,  four  times 
traversing  the  Mediterranean,  a  trip  to  the  West  Indies  and  South 
America  and  a  trip  to  Mexico  by  the  Gulf  and  twice  around  the  world. 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  all  the  large  bodies  of  water  in  the  world  have 
been  traversed. 

The  first  trip  encircling  the  globe  was  by  London,  Liverpool,  Gibral- 
tar, Marseilles,  Naples,  Suez  Canal,  Cairo,  Red  Sea,  Ceylon,  Penang, 
Singapore,  Hong  Kong,  Canton,  Shanghai,  Nagasaki,  Inland  Sea  of 
Japan,  Kobe,  Kioto,  Osaka,  Yokohama,  Tokio,  Vancouver  and  C.  P. 
R.  to  Montreal  and  Worcester. 

The  second  trip  around  the  circle  wras  by  London,  Plymouth,  Teneriffe, 
Cape  Town,  South  Africa,  Melbourne,  Sydney,  etc.,  Australia,  Auck- 
land, Wellington,  Hot  Lakes  district,  Christchurch,  Dunedin,  Inver- 
cargill,  New  Zealand,  Hobart,  Tasmania,  Fiji  Islands,  Hawaiian  Islands, 
Alaska,  C.  P.  R.  and  Great  Lakes,  Montreal,  Worcester. 

I  have  crossed  the  continent  six  times  and  been  in  most  of  the  States 
and  leading  cities  of  our  own  country.  This  has  furnished  much  en- 
tertainment, a  large  fund  of  information  and  greatly  improved  health. 
For  all  these  privileges  and  opportunities  this  lineal  descendant  is  truly 
thankful. 


8.     The  Quaboag  Historical   Society. 

Response  by  its   President,   Hon.    Daniel   H."  Chamberlain 
of  West  Brookfield. 


84  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 


REMARKS  OF  EX-GOV.  CHAMBERLAIN. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Fellow  Citizens: — 
First  of  all,  let  me  say  to  your  president  that  I  shall  obey  his  injunc- 
tion regarding  the  length  of  my  remarks.  The  charm  of  such  an  occasion 
as  we  are  enjoying  this  afternoon  lies  not  a  little  in  the  privilege  of 
hearing  many  different  voices,  all  testifying  to  their  respect  and  affection 
for  this  town,  its  history,  its  men  and  women,  both  those  who  are  gone 
and   those  who  are  here.     Tt  is  Wordsworth  who  has  sung: — 

"  There  is  one  great  society  alone  on  earth : 
The  noble  living  and  the  noble  dead." 

Public  speaking  is  not  of  itself  a  pleasure  to  me,  but  I  will  confess 
I  did  wish  to  say  one  word  here  today.  I  wished  to  repeat  to  all  who 
hear  me  what  I  said  to  Mr.  Tufts  privately  at  the  close  of  his  address 
this  morning:  "I  never  heard  you  do  better;  I  never  heard  anybody 
do  better."  If  this  day  had  given  us  nothing  else  than  this  beautiful, 
reverential  and  inspiring  address,  it  would  have  been  a  memorable 
day.  I  congratulate  Mr.  Tufts,  I  felicitate  New  Braintree,  on  the 
fact  that  so  much  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  the  life  of  this 
town  has  now  been  saved  finally  from  oblivion ;  recorded  imperishably 
in  written  words,  words  so  chosen  that  your  history  becomes  at  once 
part  of  the  genuine  literature  of  our  neighborhood,  to  be  read  and 
pondered  by  the  long  succession  of  the  coming  generations. 

And  what  is  it  that  makes  this  history  so  charming  and  so  precious? 
It  is  not  that  it  was  enacted  on  a  high  stage  in  the  sight  of  the  world. 
It  is  not  that  the  men  of  New  Braintree  were  great  orators  or  great 
soldiers  or  great  statesmen.  It  is  not  that  her  settlement  was  attended 
by  tragic  or  renowned  events.  No.  It  is  simply  because  here  on  this 
soil,  on  and  around  this  lovely  hill,  a  few  wise,  honest,  industrious, 
independent,  virtuous  and  pious  men  and  women  had  their  homes, 
and  made  and  kept  a  township  true  to  God,  to  humanity  and  to  country. 

"  Type  of  the  wise  who  soar  but  never  roam, 
True  to  the  kindred  points  of  Heaven  and  Home." 

Looking  out  today,  under  the  clarifying  radiance  of  Mr.  Tufts's  address, 
both  to  the  past  and  the  future,  I  feel,  and  I  think  we  all  feel,  that  if 
we  would  preserve  and  enlarge  our  historic  heritage,  it  must  be  by  cul- 
tivating the  virtues, — the  fortitude,  the  sobriety,  the  reverence  and 
the  patriotism, — of  those  who  first  won  this  hill  and  this  township  to 
civilization,  to  letters,  to  laws  and  to  religion.  A  poet-prophet,  Henry 
Timrod,    has    said: — 

"  That  which  we  are  and  shall  be  is  made  up 
Of  what  we  have  been." 


REMARKS  OF  REV.  CHARLES  S.  BROOKS.        85 

9.     "The  Strength  of  the  Hills." 

Response  by  Rev.   Charles  S.   Brooks  of  Wellesley. 

REMARKS  OF  REV.  CHARLES  S.  BROOKS. 
"The  Strength  of  the  Hills." 

Mr.   President,   Schoolmates  and  Friends: — 

If  you  take  your  position  on  the  bell-deck  of  this  church,  six  hills 
at  least  will  be  visible  to  .you:  Tufts  Hill,  Ranger  Hill,  Cushman  Hill, 
Muster  Hill,  Fort  Hill  and  this,  crowned  by  this  building  in  which  we 
are  met,  which  I  may  for  the  hour  call  Bowman  Hill,  after  Joseph 
Bowman,  one  of  the  strongest  business  men  New  -Braintree  has  ever 
had. 

If  one  goes  into  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Switzerland,  as  he  looks 
on  the  lofty  mountains  around  him,  the  Scripture  connecting  the  moun- 
tains with  God  may  come  to  him  with  great  impressiveness,  "  Who 
setteth  fast  the  mountains,  being  girded  with  power."  And  today, 
in  the  presence  of  these  inspiring  hills,  we  may  say,  "  Who  establishes 
the  hills,  being  girded  with  power."  Indeed  one  may  travel  far  before 
finding  productive  hills  very  much  more  pleasing  by  their  graceful 
slopes  and  fair  fertility  than  are  these  outspread  before  the  eye  from 
this  hilltop.  I  query  why  it  is  that  these  rural  summits  have  not  been 
seen  and  seized  upon  by  residents  of  Boston  or  New  York,  and  this 
magnificent  township  made  by  them  a  metropolitan  summer  suburb. 

According  to  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  Storrs,  when  a  countryman 
and  his  wife  were  approaching  Chicago  at  the  time  of  a  meeting  there 
of  the  American  Board,  and  saw  in  letters  of  large  size  the  initials  A.  B. 
C.  F.  M.,  which  refer  to  that  organization,  the  wife  asked  her  husband, 
"What  do  those  letters  stand  for?"  and  he  replied,  "I  don't  know, 
Jane,  unless  it  is  because  they  can't  sit  down."  Today,  gathered  as 
we  are  to  observe  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  this  town- 
ship, and  asking  what  these  hills  stand  for,  the  answer  is  forthcoming 
that  on  such  an  occasion  as  this,  it  is  impossible  for  these  everlasting 
hills  to  sit  down. 

The  strength  of  these  hills  is  evident  in  their  power  to  give  commer- 
cial prosperity  to  the  residents.  Three-fourths,  I  conjecture,  of  the 
people  dwelling  here  in  my  childhood  held  the  titles  to  their  farms. 
Taking  as  a  sample  two  roads  leading  to  the  centre  of  this  town,  each 
some  three  miles  in  length,  and  on  the  northerly  road  all  held  the  titles, 
and  on  the  southerly  road  six  out  of  eleven.  Doubtless  some  of  these 
farms  were  embellished  with  mortgages.  The  investments  of  New 
England  people  in  the  West  justify  me  in  saying  that,  while  the  natural 
rivers  in  the  United  States  run  principally  toward  the  south,  the  finan- 
cial rivers  run  principally  toward  the  west. 

The  strength  of  the  hills  appears  here  in  the  manifest  power  of  right 
citizenship.     This  is  seen  in  the  power  of  the  vote  of  their  inhabitants. 


86  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

An  epitaph  of  a  headstone  read,   "Here  lies 


who  never  voted.  'Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  "  No,  of  such 
is  not  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  vote  of  New  York  State  is  at  times 
determined  by  its  rural  ballot.  They  need  to  hear  from  the  vote 
north  of  the  Harlem  River  before  they  are  certain  how  the  State  of  New 
York  has  gone  in  an  election.  The  vote  of  those  who  dwell  on  the 
hills,  and  the  vote  of  those  who  have  gone  from  the  hills  to  the  cities, 
comprise  much  of  the  strength  of  the  righteous  ballot  in  our  land. 

The  strength  of  the  hills  is  seen  again  in  the  patriotic  devotion  to 
law  and  liberty  of  the  people  who  dwell  upon  them.  The  national  flag, 
symbol  of  American  liberty,  with  which  you  have  decorated  this  church, 
is  eloquent  upon  this  strength  of  the  lulls.  Every  thread  in  that  Ameri- 
can flag  is  a  thread  of  free  speech;  every  stripe  is  a  stripe  of  free  school; 
every  star  is  a  star  of  free  church.  "Old  Glory,"  they  call  it,  and  <  >M 
Glory  it  is  by  every  symbol  it  embodies,  and  by  every  line  of  its  history. 

The  strength  of  these  New  Braintree  hills  has  been  demonstrated 
by  the  patriotism  and  prowess  of  the  citizens  of  this  town  who  served 
in  the  Civil  war.  They  illustrate  the  spirit  of  the  patriotic  verse  quoted 
by  our  chivalrous  and   beloved   war  governor,   John   A.   Andrew: — 

"  But  if  we  fail. 
They  never  fail  who  die  in  a  great  cause, 

The  earth  may  drink  their  blood;  the  block  may  soak  their  gore; 
Their  heads  may  sodden  in  the  sun;  their  limbs  lie  strung  to  castle  gates  or 

city  walls, 
But  still  their  spirit  walks  abroad1, 
Though  years  elapse  and  others  share  as  dark  a  doom, 
They  but  augment  the  deep  and  sweeping  thoughts, 
Which  overpower  all  others, 
And  conduct  the  world  at  last  to  freedom." 

Mr.  President,  I  have  had  a  dream,  albeit  it  was  a  dream  with  my 
eyes  open.  I  seemed  to  see  in  an  elegant  park  in  front  of  this  church 
edifice  a  massive  and  magnificent  memorial  erected  to  the  memory 
of  the  soldiers  of  '61.  It  is  of  granite,  of  exquisite  design,  and  is  known 
as  the  "Tufts  Soldiers  Monument,"  erected  by  my  opulent  friend, 
your  fellow  citizen,  the  orator  of  the  day,  Mr.  George  K.  Tufts.  The 
mists  obscure  my  vision,  but  as  nearly  as  I  can  decipher,  the  date  of 
its  erection  carved  upon  it  is  1903. 

As  my  dream  continues,  I  behold  to  the  north  of  this  church,  on  the 
site  of  the  Bigelow  house  a  well  proportioned,  costly  and  impressive 
stone  structure,  on  which  I  read  the  inscription,  "The  Gleason  Public 
Library."  This  is  the  generous  gift  of  your  affluent  and  munificent 
townsman,  the  president-  of  the  day,  Hon.  Charles  A.  Gleason.  Through 
the  vapor  of  the  near  future,  I  can  read  on  the  cornerstone,  "Erected 
in   1905." 

Again  in  my  dream  there  appears,  in  the  times  when  the  children 
of  the  whole  township  are  transported  to  the  centre  of  the  town  lor  their 
education,  a  spacious  and  commodious  building  of  brick,  with  sandstone 


REMARKS    OF    REV.    HENRY    M.    PENNIMAN.  87 

trimmings,  the  convenience  and  pride  of  New  Braintree,  which  is  the 
"J.  T.  Webb  Public  School"  building,  the  gift  of  your  wealthy  fellow 
citizen,  Mr.  J.  T.  Webb,  who  has  thus  honored  himself  and  honored 
you. 

My  dream  still  changes,  and  I  see  reared  on  this  height  another  edi- 
fice. It  is  appropriately  colonial  in  its  architecture,  and  artistic  in 
its  interior  design,  and  preserves  and  enshrines  the  relics  of  other  days, 
already  gathered  and  gathering,  of  your  local  Antiquarian  Society. 
It  is  the  thoughtful  and  generous  gift  of  your  respected  townsman,  Mr. 
William  Bowdoin,  and  bears  on  its  front  the  name,  "The  Bowdoin 
Colonial  Hall."  May  these  four  structures  at  no  distant  day  crown 
and  grace  this  noble  hilltop. 

Friends,  the  strength  of  these  fair  hills  is,  supremely,  the  people  who 
have  inhabited  and  who  inhabit  them.  Mrs.  Browning,  in  her  "Casa 
Guidi  Windows,"  raising  in  her  poem  the  question,  "What  is  Italy," 
where  she  was  writing,  makes  answer,  "It  is  her  men."  Listen  to 
her : — 

"  '  Now  tell  us  what  is  Italy? '  men  ask : 
And  others  answer,  '  Virgil,  Cicero, 
Catullus,  Cresar,'    What  beside?  to  task 
The  memory  closer,—'  Why;  Boccaccio, 
Dante,  Petrarca,' — and  if  still  the  flask 
Appears  to  yield  its  wine  by  drops  too  slow, — 
'  Angelo,  Raft'ael,  Pergolese,' — all 

Whose  strong  hearts  beat  through  stone,  or  charged  again 
The  paints  with  fire  of  souls  electrical, 
Or  broke  up  heaven  for  music." 

We  may  adapt  her  verse  to  say:  now  tell  us,  what  is  New  Braintree? 
What  are  these  ancient  hills?  What  is  America?  And  we  may  answer, 
Washington,  Putnam,  Warren.  What  besides,  to  task  the  memory 
closer?  Samuel  Adams,  Webster,  Payson,  Storrs;  and  if  still  the 
flask  appears  to  yield  its  wine  by  drops  too  slow,  Lincoln,  Grant,  Low- 
ell,— all  whose  strong  hearts  bent  through  schools,  churches  and  courts, 
or  charged  again  the  homes  with  fire  of  souls  spiritual,  or  broke  up  heaven 
for  manhood. 

10.     "Selections  in  Life." 

Response  by  Rev.  Henry  M.  Penniman  of  Berea  College,  Kv. 

REMARKS  OF  REV.  HENRY  M.  PENNIMAN. 

Friends  and  Children  of  Friends: — 

The  difficulty  of  saying  what  I  want  to  say  in  ten  minutes  reminds 
me  of  the  difficulty  which  a  good  mother  with  nine  children  found  in 
trying  to  board  a  car.  The  conductor  said,  "  Madame,  are  these  chil- 
dren all  yours  or  is  this  a  picnic?" 

"  Sir,   these  children  are  all  mine  and  it   is  no  picnic." 


88  ANNIVERSARY    OF    XEW    BRAINTREE.  * 

It  is  no  picnic  to  try  to  unburden  the  soul  on  such  an  occasion  as 
this,  in  ten  minutes. 

Selections  for  Life. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  selections  in  constant  operation.  The  first 
I  will  mention  is  natural  selection.  This  is  the  term  with  which  scien- 
tists have  seen  fit  to  label  the  action  of  those  great  natural  forces  which, 
day  and  night,   ceaselessly  operate  to  bring  results. 

These  forces  build  and  destroy,  rebuild  from  ruins  of  their  own  making 
and  re-destroying  that  they  may  build  again  more  grandly  than  before. 
In  the  mineral  and  vegetable  kingdoms  these  forces  are  known  in  gravi- 
tation, heat  and  cold,  in  wind  and  rain. 

Mighty  pressures  in  the  contracting  earth  make  the  coal  from  forests 
made  from  sunshine.  Fires  confined  in  the  entrails  of  the  earth  have 
vent  by  rending  the  rocky  framework  of  the  globe.  Frosts  attack 
the  mountains  and  torrents  tear  the  hills;  rivers  plow  the  plains  and 
fill  the  seas;    continents  rise  and  sink. 

In  all  this  ruin  there  is  ever  recurring  beauty,  a  constant  rebuilding 
of  better  types  of  things  departed. 

This  same  result  is  seen  in  the  animal  kingdom.  Forces  operating 
through  nerves  are  sometimes  the  same  as  those  working  in  growing 
forests  and  storing  mines.  Other  forces  peculiar  to  nerves  co-operate 
with  gravitation,  with  heat  and  cold  and  produce  more  complex  results 
in  heart  and  brain  than  in  rock  and  tree.  But  here  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, surely,  swiftly,  the  building  and  destroying  go  on.  All  along 
historic  records,  whether  scratched  on  rocks  in  prehistoric  times  or 
baked  in  bricks  or  written  on  parchment  in  later  ages,  the  lower  type 
disappears  and  the  higher  appears  to  disappear  before  increasing  beauty 
and  still  higher  forms  of  life. 

We  do  not  tremble  before  this  mighty  and  mysterious  working  of 
unmeasured  and  immeasurable  forces  until  we  enter  the  domain  of 
man.  Here  we  see  sensitive  beings  exquisitely  endowed  with  instincts 
and  power  of  emotion,  like  God  himself.  This  human  frame  with  heart 
and  brain  floats  into  the  vast  whirl  of  mighty  energies  like  a  wisp  of 
straw  in  a  hurricane  of  flame.  At  first  the  most  helpless,  at  last  the 
mightiest  in  creation,  the  human  is  endowed  with  the  power  of  another 
kind  of  selection,  it  is  that  of  moral  volition. 

This  regal  power  allows  co-operation  with  all  other  for  good  and 
pleasant  results. 

You  and  I  may  appear  in  life,  choose  to  co-operate  with  the  pulsating 
energies  of  the  universe  for  good.  But  this  power  of  choice  is  the  power 
that   can   choose   to  operate   for  evil. 

One  human  will  may  co-operate  with  gravitation  to  supply  the  suf- 
fering and  festering  city  with  a  bountiful  supply  of  pure  water.  An- 
other human  will  may  operate  with  gravitation  to  break  a  dam  and 
flood  a  valley,  destroying  life  and  property. 

Infinite  in  variety  is  the  manner  and  method  of  volitional  life  in  con- 


REMARKS    OF    WILLIAM    BOWDOIN.  89 

nection  with  its  habitat.  In  all  this  terrible  heat  of  action,  one  philo- 
sopher has  said  the  results  that  persist  may  be  called  "  the  survival 
of  the  fittest,"  in  other  words,  the  weak  perish,  the  strong  live.  The 
late  President  Porter  of  Yale  said  much  the  same  thing  when  he  wrote, 
"  Put  a  lot  of  potatoes  in  a  cart  and  drive  over  a  rough  road  and  the 
smallest  go  to  the  bottom."  In  this  power  of  moral  selection,  however 
weak,  man  can  choose  to  co-operate  with  forces  making  for  righteous- 
ness, which  are  the  strongest  in  the  universe. 

On  and  with  these  he  can  ride  like  a  ship  on  the  wave,  he  is  lifted 
and  pushed  from  beneath  and  above,  he  is  hand  in  hand  with  forces 
more   for   him  than  against   him. 

He  may  select  the  hand  of  God  and  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  Al- 
mighty. 

Time  does  not  allow  to  enlarge.  Let  me  close  with  a  story  of  a 
mountain  boy  in  Kentucky. 

A  minister  often  eat  at  his  father's  table.  He  was  always  requested 
to  ask  a  blessing.  The  first  meal  after  the  departure  of  the  minister, 
the  little  boy  of  seven  said  before  the  big  table  full  of  people,  "  Pap, 
don't  the  minister  bless  when  he's  here?"  "Yes,  son."  Ain't  it  right 
to  bless  when  he  ain't  here?"  "Yes,  son."  "Well  you  jes  keep  shet. 
I  am  going  to  bless."  Then  with  closed  eyes  and  clasped  hands  he 
said,  "O  Lord,  bless  all  this  yere  food  that's  good  and  that  that  ain't 
good  we'll  let  alone.     Amen." 

My  last  word  to  the  people  and  friends  of  my  childhood  home  is  this, 
choose  the  good  and  let  the  evil  alone  in  selections  for  life. 

11.     "To  the  Manor  Born." 

Response  by  Wm.  Bowdoin,  Esq.,  of  New  Bramtree. 

REMARKS  OF  WILLIAM  BOWDOIN. 

To  the  Manor  Born. 

It  was  my  lot  to  be  born  in  the  town  of  New  Braintree,  Mass.,  in  1S22. 
It  was  not  for  me  to  be  proud  of  it,  or  to  receive  any  special  encourage- 
ment or  encomium  for  it.  I  am  thankful  that  a  kind  and  bei  ign  provi- 
dence has  contributed  the  elements  of  life,  so  that  I  might  continue 
until  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation 
of  the  town  of  New  Braintree,  Mass.  I  will  say  in  the  sentiment  of  t  he 
Hon.  Daniel  Webster  in  his  defense  of  the  Union  and  constitution  and 
his  native  New  England  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  1830: 
"  I  shall  enter  no  encomium  upon  New  Braintree  for  she  needs  none. 
We  have  her  history.  The  world  knows  it  by  heart.  The  past  at 
least  is  secure."  Some  historian  will  record  its  future  history  for  future 
generations.  May  he  be  actuated  by  the  same  devout  principles  which 
have  carried  along  the  town  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  past. 


90  ANNIVERSARY  OF  NEW  BRAINTREE. 

Think  what  great  opportunities  for  every  kind  and  sort  of  industry 
we.  can  enjoy  at  the  present  day.  Think  how  wonderful  and  marvellous 
are  the  works  and  products  of  mind  and  genius  during  the  last  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years;  more  discoveries,  more  inventions  and  greater 
utility  of  their  uses  than  all  previous  years  combined.  "We  are  heirs 
of  all  ages."  We  may  look  for  greater  and  more  general,  useful  and 
cheap  inventions  to  help  the  poor  and  medium  classes  of  society  in  this 
twentieth  century.  A  visit  to  the  Pan-American  exhibition,  by  the 
electric  department,  will  convince  any  one  interested  that  we  have  a 
power  in  electricity  which  will  revolutionize  the  power  of  the  world, 
and  be  a  cheaper  medium.  There  has  been  great  progress  in  develop- 
ing Benjamin  Franklin's  discovery  of  1744.  The  nations  of  the  earth 
will  honor  him  as  a  benefactor  through  all  ages. 

The  nineteenth  century  is  crowded  with  modern  triumphs  of  skill. 
It  would  fill  libraries  to  describe  and  illustrate  them.  No  age  of  the 
world  can  compare  with  the  last  one  hundred  years  in  progress.  A 
few  words  in  regard  to  our  town.  The  pioneers  of  this  town  were  stal- 
wart men  and  women,  courageous  and  honest,  governed  by  principle 
and  fair  dealing.  Many  were  representative  men,  elected  by  the  voters 
of  the  town  to  town  and  State  offices.  They  were  men  of  ability  and 
dignity  of  character.  They  were  the  ones  who  were  our  standard- 
bearers,  and  who  have  been  on  the  watch-towers  of  our  little  town, 
and  have  given  an  honorable  name  to  it.  May  future  generations 
never  tarnish  it. 

This  age  seems  to  occupy  its  own  independent  ground  and  enjoy 
its  own  distinctive  honors.  Manhood,  at  the  altitude  it  noir  stands, 
never  had  such  openings  into  the  wealth  of  the  universe.  Mankind 
was  never  so  ready  and  anxious  to  unlock  the  secrets  of  nature,  so  wisely 
stored  up  by  the  Infinite  for  the  nineteenth  century's  development, 
on  to  the  end  of  time.  Men  of  this  day  have  measurably  lost  their 
sensibility   to   surprise.     Novelty   is  a  commonplace  affair. 

We  are  living  in  the  money  age.  The  conditions  of  society  make  im- 
perious demands  to  acquire  wealth.  It  is  a  potent  power.  The  poor 
man's  aspirations  for  political  or  high  social  position  will  never  realize 
without  "money."  It  answers  all  things.  The  public  catch  the  inspi- 
ration. The  riches  of  the  mountains,  rocks  and  earth  have  been  and  are 
being  more  eagerly  sought  for,  and  men  undergo  the  greatest  hazards 
and  privations  to  get  suddenly  very  rich.  Nature  is  a  vast  storehouse 
of  resources,  an  immense  arsenal  whence  men  may  draw  weapons  needed 
in  the  warfare  of  poverty,  ignorance  and  feebleness.  With  all  vene- 
ration for  past  centuries,  their  history  and  results,  it  is  clear  to  the 
common  mind  that  the  nineteenth  century  has  been  a  most  munificent 
benefactor  to  the  human  race,  surpassing  by  far  its  predecessors  in  magni- 
tude, depth  of  influence  and  utility;  stirring  the  hearts  of  men  with 
a  new  and  perplexing  consciousness  of  an  amazing  destiny,  impelling 
them  forward  on  a  pathway  where  every  step  is  an  ascension  toward 
a  more  commanding  height  of  greatness  and  a  more  vivid  consciousness 


REMARKS  OF  HENRY  K.  HYDE.  91 

of  Deity;  and  industry  has  made  a  great  gain  by  our  country's  progress. 
How  the  pulse  of  the  nation  has  been  quickened  and  the  whole  enlight- 
ened world  gone  forward.  Science  and  industry  mil  conspire  to  add 
many  more  wonderful  inventions  in  the  twentieth  century  to  the  groat 
catalogue,  for  the  benefit  of  humanity. 

Succeeding  generations  will  have  here  a  charge  to  keep,  that  this 
town  may  retain  its  standard  good  name,  position  and  unity  of  purpose. 
It  must  ever  be  remembered,  "  Tis  education  forms  the  common  mind." 

The  old  church  has  been  a  landmark  of  honor  for  nearly  one  hundred 
years.  It  was  raised  May  13,  1801;  dedicated  Sept.  12,  1802;  rededi- 
cated  Oct.  26,  1846.  The  original  design  was  made  by  Ezekiel  Baxter, 
of  Spencer,  Mass.  It  was  surmounted  by  a  dome,  but  in  1846  it  was 
removed  to  the  bell-deck,  and  a  becoming  steeple  took  its  place  grace- 
fully, through  the  efforts  of  Col.  Carter  of  Ware,  Mass.  Subsequently, 
the  steeple  was  graced  with  a  new  clock  with  three  faces,  and  we  have 
not  been  behind  since.  The  church  is  an  honor  to  the  town,  admired 
and  revered  by  all  New  Braintree. 

12.     Ware  National  Bank. 

Response  by  its  President,  Henry  K.  Hyde,  Esq. 

REMARKS  OF  HENRY  K.  HYDE,  Esq. 

Those  of  us  who  have  been  privileged  to  take  the  beautiful  drive 
from  Ware  today  probably  experienced  somewhat  different  sensations 
from  those  of  our  fellow  townsmen  who  wended  their  way  hither  just 
one  hundred  years  ago  in  response  to  an  invitation  given  by  the  select- 
men "  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Ware  to  work  one  or  more 
days  on  the  road  leading  from  Swift  River  to  New  Braintree  free  gratis." 
Though  our  citizens  were  then  rewarded  in  a  degree  for  their  trouble 
by  the  spirits  which  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to  furnish  as  they 
found  necessary,  we,  in  our  day,  have  been  more  abundantly  rewarded 
by  the  gracious  hospitality  so  happily  in  evidence  on  this  occasion. 

Your  historian,  in  his  able  and  interesting  address,  dwelt  at  sonic 
length  on  the  career  of  one  of  your  distinguished  citizens,  Joseph  Bow- 
man, first  president  of  the  Hampshire  Manufacturers'  Bank  of  Ware. 
The  first  condition  for  the  success  of  any  financial  institution  is  the 
absolute  confidence  of  the  public  in  its  officials.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  much  of  the  prosperity  which  this  institution  and  its  successor,  the 
Ware  National  Bank,  have  enjoyed  was  the  direct  result  of  the  esteem 
and  confidence  of  all  the  people  of  this  section  in  that  citizen  of  New 
Braintree  whose  life  and  work  have  been  so  felicitously  delineated  for 
us  today.  On  the  foundation  laid  so  well  by  Mr.  Bowman  and  his  asso- 
ciates the  modest  institution  of  $100,000  capital  started  in  1825,  has 
grown  to  a  bank  of  $1,000,000  assets;  while  its  companion,  the  Ware 
Savings  Bank,  has  deposits  exceeding  in  size  the  total  assessed  valuation 


y 


92  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRA1NTREE. 

of  the  town,  and  over  eight  thousand  depositors.  We  are  glad  to  ac- 
knowledge the  debt  we  are  under  to  him.  The  best  product  of  the 
hill  town  must  be  men,  and  we  trust  that  in  the  next  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  there  may  go  forth  from  this  well  loved  village  many  men 
wlio  will  serve  the  best  interests  of  the  community  as  faithfully  as  did 
Joseph    Bowman. 

13.     "True  American  Citizenship." 

Response  by  Rev.  Michael  T.  O'Brien  of  Worcester. 

REMARKS  OF   REV.  MICHAEL   T.  O'BRIEN,  OF  WORCESTER. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — 

I  can  assure  you  that  the  surprise  which  was  given  me  by  your  com- 
mittee in  extending  the  unlooked-for  courtesy  to  be  a  speaker  on  this 
your  festal  day,  has  been  in  a  measure  dissipated  by  your  warm  welcome, 
which  makes  me  feel  that  I  am  home  again. 

Coming  here  at  the  age  of  eleven  years  from  my  native  town,  Barre, 
I  have  recognized  New  Braintree  ever  since,  some  twenty-seven  or 
twenty-eight  years,  as  my  home.  And  what  place  is  there  imaginable 
around  which  are  centred  our  most  cherished  hopes,  entwined  with 
the  most  endearing  enchantments  that  no  matter  to  what  distant  lands 
we  may  betake  ourselves,  or  in  whatsoever  walk  of  life  we  may  find 
ourselves,  toward  which  our  thoughts  in  fondest  recollections  will  ever 
stray?  It  is  home,  sweet  home.  No  matter  how  humble,  how  common- 
place or  how  old  fashioned  it  may  be.  And  therefore  I  rejoice  with 
you  in  being  home  again  to  share  with  you  the  pleasure  of  our  town's 
celebration. 

In  response  to  the  sentiment,  "  True  American  citizenship,  who  form 
it,  and  how  best  perfected,"  we  meet  with  a  subject  so  broad  in  its  scope 
and  so  replete  with  significance,  that  were  hours,  rather  than  the  few 
minutes  which  are  accorded  me,  spent  in  considering  it,  there  would 
still  be  left  unsaid  many  things  of  vital  importance. 

We  call  American  citizens  all  those  who  have  been  born  in  or  natural- 
ized in  the  United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof.  Hence 
we  may  discern  two  classes  of  people  who  form  our  American  citizenship. 
First,  those  born  here  in  this  country,  and  second,  those  of  foreign  birth, 
but  admitted  to  citizenship  either  by  special  legislative  enactment  or 
by  some  form  of  naturalization  under  general  laws.  I  believe,  Mr. 
Chairman,  I  am  right.  Both  classes  enjoy  alike  the  protection  of  the 
government,  and  are  free  to  exercise  all  the  rights  and  privileges  which 
thai  government  accords;  while  at  the  same  time  each  class  is  bound 
to  defend  the  constitution,  as  well  as  our  country's  cause  and  honor. 
Thai  there  has  been  made  by  some  a  distinction  between  the  native 
born  and  1  he  naturalized  citizen,  and  even  t  he  descendants  of  naturalized 
citizens,  we  do  not,  we  cannot  deny;  of  such  opinionists  we  can  only 
say  that  they  are  the  Leasl    American  of  all.     For  the  great  principle 


REMARKS    OF    REV.    MICHAEL    T.    O'BRIEN.  93 

of  true  Americanism,  if  we  may  use  the  word,  or  of  true  American 
citizenship  is,  "That  merit  makes  the  man."  It  places  every  man  on 
his  own  two  feet,  and  says  to  him,  "  Be  a  man,  and  you  shall  be  esteemed 
according  to  your  worth  as  a  man.  You  shall  be  commended  only  for 
your  personal  merits,  or  you  shall  be  made  to  suffer  only  for  your  per- 
sonal demerits."  This  is  true  Americanism;  it  is  this  which  has  been 
our  boast,  which  has  constituted  our  country's  true  glory.  This  is  the 
legacy  we  have  inherited  and  which  we  are  to  hold  as  a  sacred  trust, 
and  must  preserve  in  all  its  purity,  integrity  and  activity  if  we  would 
not  prove  ourselves  "degenerate  sons  of  noble  sires." 

The  fair  name,  American  citizenship,  is  like  a  great  and  spotless 
scroll  upon  which  all,  irrespective  of  race,  or  color,  or  creed,  may  write 
their  names,  and  pledge  their  honor,  their  loyalty  and  support,  and, 
if  need  be,  even  their  heart's  best  blood  in  its  sacred  cause.  That  many 
have  written  their  names  thereon,  brings  before  our  mind  the  fact  that 
the  naturalized  citizens  form  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  our  nation's 
population,  and  by  no  means  the  least  important  part.  From  almost 
every  land  under  the  heavens  do  we  find  coming  to  our  shores,  as  to 
a  haven  of  peace,  those  whom  persecution,  oppression,  penury  and 
liberty  of  conscience  to  serve  their  God  as  they  had  learned  to  do  at 
their  mother's  knee,  have  driven  hitherward;  and  without  these  exiles 
what  would  our  country  be  today?  For  who  have  leveled  our  forests, 
cleared  our  plains,  worked  our  mines,  cultivated  our  farms,  operated 
our  mechanical  industries,  fought  our  battles  on  land  and  on  sea?  We 
need  but  take  the  scroll  of  honor  and  read  their  names  emblazoned  there 
in  glory,  and  we  will  find  that  whilst  not  all  are  of  foreign  birth,  yet 
no  small  number  will  be  found  who  were  not  born  on  American  soil. 
Yet  all  the  while  their  foreign  birth  and  ancestry  did  not  make  them 
the  less  true  to  our  country,  nor  did  they  shed  their  blood  the  less  freely 
for  our  national  defense  and  to  keep  floating  aloft  gloriously  and  tri- 
umphantly our  God  blest  stars  and  stripes. 

In  speaking  thus  of  foreign  ancestors,  I  am  but  defending  your  honor 
and  mine,  for  all  our  ancestors  were  of  foreign  birth  if  we  but  trace 
them  back  for  a  few  generations;  nor  do  I  mean  to  insinuate  that  the 
native  born  American  has  not  done  his  duty.  But  if  our  principle  of 
true  Americanism  is  true, — that  merit  makes  the  man, — let  all  honor 
and  glory  be  given  to  him  to  whom  honor  and  glory  is  due,  no  matter 
what  country  may  have  given  him  birth,  no  matter  before  what  altar 
he  prayed  to  his  God.  Realizing  then  the  personality  of  those  who 
make  up  our  American  citizenship,  its  perfection  can  best  be  attained 
by  being  true  and  faithful  followers  of  our  constitution.  Let  us  welcome 
to  our  hearths  and  our  homes  every  worthy  exile,  whether  from  England 
or  Ireland  or  France  or  Germany,  who  is  animated  by  noble  endeavor; 
and  in  particular  let  us  welcome  those  whose  aspirations  are  to  serve 
God  first,  last  and  forever.  For  he  who  serves  God  best  is  the  truer 
friend,  the  nobler  man  and  the  best,  the  most  perfect  type  of  true 
American   citizenship. 


94  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

14.  Our  Sister  Towns, — The  Town  of  Hard  wick. 
Response  by  Rev.  Harlan  Paige  of  Hardwick. 

REMARKS  OF  REV.  HARLAN  PAIGE  OF  HARDWICK. 

The  town  of  Hardwick  extends  her  congratulations  to  New  Braintree 
on  this  her  festal  day.     She  rejoices  with  yon  in  all  your  prosperity. 

This  is  rightfully  the  day  for  the  sons  and  daughters  6f  New  Brain- 
tree,  and  in  view  of  that  I  must  not  detain  you  long,  but  rather  give 
way  to  them. 

Now  friends,  we  stand  here  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  accom- 
plished. We  look  with  pride  on  the  past.  It  is  right  we  should.  We 
have  heard  much  today  of  the  noted  and  distinguished  of  New  Brain- 
tree.  But  I  include  you  all.  Looking  into  your  faces  and  knowing 
so  well  the  people  of  this  town,  I  affirm  the  future  resides  with  you; 
the  future  success  of  New  Braintree  will  depend  on  what  you  each 
do  in  these  schools,  on   these  farms,  in   your  households  and  daily  life. 

How  much  the  prosperity  of  your  town  is  due  to  the  labors  of  the 
ministers  who  have  preached  from  this  desk!  What  a  grand  man  Dr. 
Fiske  was;  he  was  not  merely  an  apostle  of  religious  truth,  but  an 
affable  host,  a  promoter  of  liberty  and  the  spokesman  of  this  people 
on  many  occasions. 

But  I  must  not  detain  you  longer.  May  great  prosperity  be  yours 
in  the  years  to  come,  and  I  am  sure  we  shall  all  part  lighter  hearted 
and  warmer  friends  for  this  day's  festival. 

15.  The  failure  of  Braintree  Farms  and  the  West  Wing- 
to  unite  did  not  prevent  the  union  of  their  sons  and  daughters. 

Response  by  Deacon  Jesse  Allen  of  Oakham. 

REMARKS  OF  DEACON  JESSE  ALLEN  OF  OAKHAM. 

Response  of  town  of  Oakham  to  the  sentiment,  "The  failure  of  Brain- 
tree Farms  and  the  West  Wing  to  unite  did  not  prevent  the  union  of 
their  sons  and  daughters." 

In  consulting  the  old  records  of  the  town  of  Oakham,  I  find  many 
evidences  of  the  truth  of  the  proposed  sentiment.  On  July  3d,  1791, 
Percival  Hall,  Esq.,  of  New  Braintree,  and  Betsey  White  of  Oakham, 
were  "outpublished."  Also  on  July  28th,  1799,  Dr.  John  Field  of 
Oakham,  and  Rhoda  Bowman  of  New  Braintree.  Maj.  Henry  Penni- 
man  of  New  Braintree  and  Lucy  Allen  of  Oakham,  Dec.  19,  1806.  Lieut. 
Benjamin  Little  of  New  Braintree  and  Hannah  Allen  of  Oakham,  on 
March  3,  1807.  Scores  of  other  names  could  be  added  to  those  already 
given,  of  those  who,  regardless  of  town  lines,  sought  and  found  their 
"heart's  desire,"  as  did  those  whose  names  have  already  been  given. 


REMARKS    OF    HON.    LEDYARD  BILL.  95 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  very  ancient  looking  Record  Book.  It  is  that 
of  the  "Washington  Grenadiers,"  a  company  made  up  of  the  stalwart 
sons  of  New  Braintree  and  Oakham,  and  organized  nearly  a  century 
ago.  By  this  book  we  find  that  the  sons  of  these  sister  towns  believed 
in  union  in  military  affairs,  and  active  service  if  they  were  needed. 
On  the  13th  of  September.  1814,  they  were  suddenly  summoned  to 
report  for  duty  at  5  a.  m.,  on  Oakham  Common,  armed  and  equipped 
ready  to  march  to  Boston,  which  was  then  in  great  peril  from  the 
"British." 

They  responded  promptly,  and  after  receiving  the  aged  pastor's  bles- 
sing, amid  the  tearful  goodbyes  of  parents  and  friends,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Capt.  Win.  Crawford,  proceeded  at  once  to  Boston,  remaining 
there  about  two  months,  when,  the  danger  being  passed,  they  marched 
home  again.  For  many  years  both  towns  were  justly  proud  of  their 
military  company,  which  comprised  their  choicest  and  most  active  young 
men.  The  last  surviving  member  of  the  original  company,  Sergeant 
Stephen  Lincoln,  died  a  few  years  since  at  the  age  of  ninety-three.  A 
short  time  before  his  death,  he  sent  for  me  and  committed  this  book 
to  my  care.  It  will  be  of  great  and  increasing  interest  to  both  towns 
as  time  goes  on. 

16.     The  Town  of  Paxton. 
Response  by  Hon.  Ledyard  Bill. 

REMARKS  OF  HON.  LEDYARD  BILL  OF  PAXTON. 

On  being  called  on  by  the  presiding  officer.  Mr.  Bill  said,  in  part : 

I  am  very  glad  to  be  present  and  join  in  the  festivities  of  this  anni- 
versary. I  feel  honored  in  being  a  guest  on  this  occasion,  and  while 
I  have  no  "beaten  oil"  of  speech,  am  pleased  to  bring  the  congratula- 
tions of  the  people  of  my  town  to  the  people  of  New  Braintree 
for  their  grand  history.  New  Braintree  was  a  typical  New  England 
town.  Its  early  settlers  were  devout  men  and  women,  who  sought 
to  better  their  condition  and  were  willing  to  labor  "  in  season  and  out 
of  season"  to  establish  homes,  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience;  and  prized, 
as  did  their  ancestors,  freedom  from  oppressive  laws  and  all  imperial 
forms  of  government. 

The  town  of  New  Braintree  has  enjoyed  for  very  many  years  in  the 
past  a  most  enviable  reputation,  both  as  to  the  high  character  of  her 
citizens  and  also  the  products  of  her  soil.  For  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury she  had  a  prominent  place  in  the  larger  markets  of  the  Common- 
wealth. All  of  the  leading  products  of  the  dairy  and  her  cattle  upon 
"a  thousand  hills,"  as  it  were,  were  notable  for  their  quality  and  as 
nearly  perfect  in  production  as  any  community  could  show. 

But  while  all  this  is  highly  praiseworthy  and  to  be  emulated  by  all 
agricultural  communities,  yet  there  is  still  another  crop,  the  product 


96  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

fit  her  soil,  which  is  a  thousand  times  better  and  of  a  far  higher  value. 
I  refer  to  the  generations  of  manly  men  born  and  reared  in  New  Brain- 
tree.  No  town  of  its  size  has  sent  from  her  borders  more  men  and 
women  who  have  been  more  influential  or  more  useful  to  their  country 
and  their  kind  than  have  the  sons  and  daughters  of  this  beautiful  town. 

I  have  been  greatly  interested  in  the  address  of  your  historian,  who 
has  so  graphically  sketched  the  salient,  points  in  the  town's  history  and 
given  much  valuable  data  as  to  the  early  settlement  and  family  histories, 
which  should  be  carefully  treasured,  and  if  possible  preserved  for  those 
who  shall  come  after  you.  It  will  be  invaluable  to  them,  as  also  to  the 
student  of  history. 

Again,  Mr.  President,  I  congratulate  you  and  through  you  the  people 
of  New  Braintree  for  this  happily  conceived  and  happily  executed  cele- 
bration. 

17.     The  Town  of  West  Brookfield. 
Response  by  Hon.  E.  B.  Lynde. 

REMARKS  OF  HON.  E.   B.  LYNDE. 

Mr.   President,   past  and  present  citizens  of  New  Braintree: — 

It  is  with  pleasure  I  bring  to  you  on  this  anniversary  occasion  the 
hearty  congratulations  of  West  Brookfield.  During  the  long  historic 
period  an  intimate  and  friendly  relation  has  existed  between  the  towns. 
A  part  of  your  territory  (twelve  hundred  acres),  on  its  southern  border 
was  once  a  part  of  the  mother  town  of  West  Brookfield,  settled  in  1660, 
forming  a  connecting  link  between  the  coast  and  the  Connecticut  River. 
And  in  1857,  when  the  district  system  of  representation  in  the  General 
Court  superseded  that-  of  the  town,  New  Braintree  and  West  Brook- 
field were  placed  in  the  same  representative  district.  At  the  present 
time  we  are  in  the  same  school  district,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
same  superintendent. 

New  Braintree  was  once  one  of  the  leading,  influential  and  wealthy 
towns  of  Worcester  County,  and  is  still  noted  for  her  hospitality  and 
pleasant  social  gatherings. 

My  remembrance  of  her  runs  back  almost  fourscore  years.  I  remem- 
ber the  Bowmans,  Pennimans,  Mixters,  Tidds,  Gleasons,  Woods,  Fiskes, 
Millers,  Bigelows  and  many  others  whose  influence  was  felt  in  County 
and  State.  At  that  time  New  Braintree  was  called  an  aristocratic 
town.  Her  farms  were  among  the  most  productive  and  valuable  in 
the  County,  and  the  owner  of  one  of  them  was  thought  to  be  about 
as  well  fixed  as  one  could  be  in  this  world.  For  some  years  past  the 
market  value  of  these  farms  has  been  decreasing  and  the  population 
growing  less.  In  this  New  Braintree  is  not  alone,  the  same  is  true  of 
almost  all  the  small  towns  of  New  England.  We  have  entered  upon 
a  time,  an  era,  which  came  to  the  civilizations  of  the  past,  centralization  ; 


REMARKS  OF  HON.  THOMAS  P.  ROOT.         97 

centralization  of  population,  wealth  and  power,  which  was  at  the  root 
of  their  decline,  and  which  threatens  our  boasted  civilization.  The 
shrinkage  in  farm  values  and  population  in  New  Braintree  is  not  be- 
cause her  sons  have  deteriorated,  but  because  of  the  great  change  that 
has  taken  place  in  the  industrial  life  of  the  State,  offering  greater  induce- 
ments to  capital  than  farming. 

As  I  remember  many  of  the  distinguished  citizens  of  New  Braintree 
in  the  height  of  her  prosperity  and  influence,  so  I  now  know  many  of 
their  sons,  who  are  fully  equal  to  and  who  fill  as  ably  the  places  they 
are  called  upon  to  occupy  as  did  their  fathers.  Who  among  those  of 
the  past  could  have  written  so  completely  and  elegantly  the  history 
of  the  town  as  has  your  honored  citizen  and  son,  the  orator  of  the    day. 

18.     The  Town  of  Barre. 

Response  by  Hon.  Thomas  P.   Root. 

REMARKS  OF  HON.  THOMAS  P.  ROOT. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Neighbors  of  New  Braintree: — 

I  esteem  it  a  rare  privilege  to  stand  here,  one  of  many  others,  to  repre- 
sent the  fellow-feeling  of  the  towns  which  are  on  your  borders. 

Others  there  are  who  may  more  fittingly  represent  their  localities, 
but  be  assured,  my  friends,  no  town  sends  more  heartfelt  greetings 
than  the  town  I  represent ;  and  here  and  now  I  extend  to  you  the  hearty 
greetings  of  Barre  on  this  your  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary. 

We  all  have  a  common  inheritance,  we  all  have  a  common  pride, 
in  what  our  ancestors  have  achieved,  from  that  primeval  time  in  1686, 
when  certain  Indians  (of  unpronounceable  name),  conveyed  to  Messrs. 
Willard,  Foster,  Stevens  and  others,  for  the  sum  of  twenty-three  pounds 
sterling,  a  certain  tract  of  land  in  this  immediate  vicinity,  containing 
twelve  miles  square,  according  to  the  metes  and  bounds  described  in 
the  indenture. 

Some  localities  in  this  vicinity  still  retain  the  Indian  cognomen  of 
their  tribal  inhabitants.  You  have,  on  your  southern  borders  the  name 
given  by  the  ancient  sons  of  the  forest,  "Quobauge";  while  we  on  our 
northern  have  that  of  the  "  Niche woag."  During  the  French  and 
Indian  wars,  we  shared  with  you  the  contest  for  English  supremacy. 
And  still  later,  when  King  George  failed  to  comprehend  the  destiny 
of  the  New  World,  our  fathers  endured  with  yours  the  seven  long  years 
of  hardship  and  struggle  for  freedom  and  equal  rights.  History  records 
this. 

You  do  not  expect  me  to  speak  of  your  present  people  and  surround- 
ings; they  speak  for  themselves.  Neither  do  you  expect  me  to  give 
personal  reminiscences  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  I  prefer 
to  take  middle  ground  in  my  brief  moment,  in  simply  alluding  to  the 
men  I  knew  forty  to  fifty  years  since.     Then  the  homesteads  were  owned 


98  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

by  the  grandparents  or  perhaps  parents,  of  some  of  those  whom  we 
see  here.  These  fertile  acres  were  cultivated  by  energetic,  intelligent, 
broadminded  men,  who  were  born  and  reared  here. 

T  recall  with  pleasure  the  names  of  Capt.  Tidd,  the  elder  Gleasons, 
Messrs.  Wilcox,  Thompson,  Hamilton,  Hale  and  a  long  line  of  others 
who  have  closed  their  activities.  Noble  ancestry!  You  do  well  this 
day  to  hold  this  festival  to  their  memory,  and  their  ancestors,  thus 
stamping  indelibly  their  record  on  the  minds  of  your  children,  and 
children's  children;  not  forgetting  the  noble  part  they  took  in  the 
trials  of  thirty-seven  to  forty-one  years  ago,  when  your  sons  and  ours 
helped  to  preserve  the  nation. 

Here  we  stand  today,  while  nature  is  clothed  with  all  her  robes  of 
verdant  beauty;  while  our  common  country  has  reached  to  the  highest 
point  of  fame  in  all  intellectual  and  material  grandeur  which  the  world 
has  ever  known.  We  who  represent  the  rural  country  towns  are  as 
units;  yet  in  my  judgment,  from  these  units,  small  but  distinct  mu- 
nicipalities, has  come  the  virile  forces  that  have  energized  and  made 
possible  the.  great  results  of  our  State  and  nation  as  we  see  them  in 
this  first  year  of  the  twentieth  century. 

Again,  let  me  assure  you,  people  of  New  Braintree,  of  the  kindly  and 
heartfelt  greetings  of  the  people  of  Barre,  and  our  wish  for  your  future 
prosperity. 


At  the  close  of  the  exercises  in  the  afternoon  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  offered  by  Rev.  Charles  S.  Brooks  and 
unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  that  we,  the  former  residents  of  New  Braintree, 
and  guests  of  the  day,  hereby  express  our  high  and  hearty 
appreciation  of  the  action  of  the  present  citizens  in  observing 
the  150th  anniversary  of  the  origin  of  this  town,  and  of  making 
it  possible  for  us  to  participate  in  this  observance,  and  that  we 
tender  them  our  gratitude  for  their  action,  and  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements  and  to  the  ladies  and  citizens  for  their 
generous  hospitality. 

Resolved,  that  we  desire  to  put  on  record  our  sense  of 
indebtedness  to  the  President  of  the  Day  for  his  felicitous  and 
forceful  address  of  welcome,  and  to  the  Historian  of  the  Day 
for  his  able,  graphic  and  exhaustive  history  of  this  township, 
and  that  we  express  our  desire  for  a  copy  of  both  addresses  for 
publication  in  connection  with  the  proceedings  of  the  day. 


LETTERS.  99 


LETTERS. 


Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  May  7,  1901. 
To  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  Observance  of  the  \50th  Anni- 
versary of  the    Town  of  New  Braintree  : 

I  received  your  note  concerning  this  matter,  and  send  greetings  and 
congratulations  to  you  upon  this  occasion,  hoping  you  will  have  a 
pleasant  and  profitable  time  in  your  exercises.  I  should  be  ex- 
ceedingly glad  to  be  present  with  you  and  participate  in  the  exercises, 
and  be  a  listener  to  what  may  be  said  concerning  this  event,  but  as  I 
cannot,  I  must  content  myself  by  sending  you  my  note  of  sympathy 
and  love,  wishing  you  success  and  satisfaction  in  carrying  out  the 
programme. 

As  I  claim  to  be  a  native  of  New  Braintree,  having  been  born  there  in 
the  year  1820,  as  the  records  of  the  town  will  show,  I  have  profound  re- 
spect for  Massachusetts  and  the  little  town  of  New  Braintree  that  gave 
me  birth  as  a  natural  consequence.  And  as  some  writer  has  said,  "  There 
is  but  one  Niagara,"  I  will  make  the  same  proclamation  in  part.  There 
is  but  one  New  Braintree,  and  she  is  ours,  yesterday,  today  and  forever  ; 
and  when  I  take  a  retrospective  view  of  the  years  of  comparative  hap- 
piness and  pleasure  I  enjoyed  in  the  sixty-four  years  that  I  spent  in 
New  Braintree,  it  causes  a  feeling  of  regret  when  I  think  the  proba- 
bility is  I  never  again  will  see  New  Braintree  through  natural  eyes. 

While  I  am  well  pleased  with  my  condition  and  surroundings  here  in 
this  genial  climate  of  California,  I  have  no  reason  to  complain,  yet  1  am 
constrained  to  exclaim  as  Shakspere  did — "Not  that  I  love  Brutus  less 
hut  Casar  more."  So  then  I  may  say,  not  that  I  love  California  less, 
but  Massachusetts  and  New  Braintree  more. 

I  am  something  of  the  opinion  of  the  Irishman  when  he  came  to 
America.  He  says, ' '  you  Yankees  brag  about  your  America,  but  it  don't 
compare  with  Ireland  at  all,  not  at  all.  The  days  in  America  arc  no 
more  than  half  as  long  as  they  are  in  Ireland,  be  gorra,  and  that's  not  nil. 
There  is  not  as  many  of  them." 

And  I  would  suggest  that  our  mothers  and  our  native  countries  are 
hard  to  be  beaten.  New  Braintree  is  my  native  place  and  it  would  be 
unnatural  for  me  to  say  that  I  loved  my  adopted  State  of  California 
more  than  my  old  town  of  New  Braintree  and  State  of  Massachusetts, 
although  it  may  be  so  in  some  respects  and  in  others  not  equal.  Massa- 
chusetts has  been  the  birthplace  of  some  of  the  greatest  men  the  world 
has  ever  produced.  Boston  is  the  "  Hub,"  and  these  great  men  have 
been  the  spokes  that  have  supported  the  rim  of  that  great  wheel  that  has 


100  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

in  some  degree  revolutionized  the  World.  Massachusetts  is  made  of 
good  material  and  has  the  elements  that  produce  greatness,  other- 
wise the  great  men  would  not  have  been  there.  I  think  there  are 
plenty  of  the  same  element  left,  and  as  New  Braintree  is  one  of  her 
daughters,  who  knows  but  some  of  the  progeny  of  the  old  settlers  of  the 
town  may  not  develop  into  greatness  and  even  more  than  fill  the  places 
of  their  predecessors.  Be  hopeful,  we  cannot  fell  what  may  come ;  great 
discoveries  are  being  made  and  we  don't  know  what  a  day  may  bring 
forth.  Brothers  and  friends  of  New  Braintree,  you  have  much  to 
encourage  you  to  go  on  with  renewed  energy;  let  your  past  experience 
serve  as  a  new  impetus  to  set  examples  that  are  worthy  of  imitation. 
Look  around  you,  over  the  world,  and  see  the  amount  of  crime  com- 
mitted and  ask  yourselves  how  much  of  it  can  be  placed  in  New  Brain- 
tree?    Almost  exempt ! 

Use  the  Golden  Rule,  carry  it  in  your  pockets,  measure  everything  by 
it  and  it  will  be  sure  and  be  correct.  Using  this  and  obeying  the  laws 
of  Nature  will  bring  blessings  that  nothing  else  will  or  can.  My  sym- 
pathy is  with  New  Braintree  and  her  inhabitants.  Hoping  you  will 
keep  her  lined  up  above  par,  as  she  ever  has  been,  I  trust  her  in  your 
hands  in  the  coming  future. 

Kindly  yours, 

F.  O.  WARNER. 


De  Lttz,  Cal.,  June  7th,  1901. 
Fellow-Citizens  of  ATew  Braintree. 
Dear  Friends  : 

The  announcement  of  your  purpose  to  celebrate  the  one  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  corporation  of  the  town,  is  at  hand.  The 
enterprise  meets  my  hearty  approval,  and  I  deeply  regret  my  inability 
to  be  personally  present. 

New  Braintree  is  a  tree  that  was  well  planted,  and  has  been  well  cared 
for  all  these  years.  It  was  set  on  a  hill  and  cannot  be  hid.  It  has 
borne  a  variety  of  choice  fruit,  and  is  still  healthy  and  vigorous.  Long 
may  it  wave. 

While  I  cannot  claim  to  be  a  native-born  citizen  of  New  Braintree,  it 
was  the  birth-place  of  my  wife,  Susan,  and  three  of  our  children.  More 
than  that,  it  was  in  New  Braintree  that  my  Christian  life  began,  and 
why  may  I  not  adopt  the  language  of  David  and  say,  "The  Lord  shall 
count,  when  He  writeth  up  the  people,  that  this  man  was  born  there  "? 
At  any  rate,  my  heart  is  with  you  today  as  a  son  and  brother,  and  my 
soul  rejoices  in  this  goodly  fellowship. 

Most  heartily  yours, 

HENRY  M.  DANIELS. 


LETTERS.  101 

IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF   NEW  BRAINTREE'S    ONE   HUNDRED 
AND  FIFTIETH  BIRTHDAY. 

Upon  the  ocean  shores  of  time, 

The  waves  of  years  have  rolled, 

And  marked  its  bands  upon  the  sands, 

A  Century — and  yet  a  half,  all  told, 

Since  'mong  the  vales,  and  tree-crowned  hills, 

Beneath  New  England's  skies, 

A  handful  then,  of  stalwart  men, 

Who,  bound  by  common  ties, 

Peace,  happiness  and  right, 

Put  hand  to  plow, — faltered  nor  fell — 

Though  days  were  long,  and  troubles  strong, 

They  fought  life's  battles  well ; 

Till  plenty  smiled  at  every  door, 

And  want  was  stranger  in  the  land. 

Each  flowing  rill,  each  grove  and  hill. 

Voiced  calm  content  on  every  hand 

Each  farm-house,  'neath  New  England  elms, 

Each  farm-yard,  stocked  so  well, 

Each  orchard  rare,  and  meadow  fair, 

A  charming  tale  they  tell. 

In  the  churchyard,  lie  at  rest, 

Those  whose  work  for  e'er  is  o'er, 

They  budded  well,  their  works  excel, 

Remembrance  theirs,  in  gracious  store. 

While  upon  the  shores  of  time, 

Shall  roll  the  waves  of  years, 

While  o'er  its  foam,  Fate's  ships  shall  roam, 

Bringing  happiness,  or  tears. 

May  every  ship  sail  to  your  port, 

With  bounties  rich  as  gold, 

That  all  may  share,  who  love  and  care, 

For  New  Braintree  so  old. 

ARABELLA  WARNER  CLEVELAND, 

4323  Agricultural  Ave.,  Los  Angeles,  California. 


University,  June  10th,  1901. 
To  the  Committee  for  the  Celebration  of  Neiv  Braintree's  150th  Birthday  : 
I  was  born  in  New  Braintree  in  the  year  1810,  on  the  30th  of  October. 

Most  of  the  people  I  knew  when  living  there  have  crossed  the  river,  but 

*7 


102  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

few  are  left  there  that  I  now  know.  Have  not  made  my  home  then1 
much  of  the  time  since  1831  or  2.  Most  of  the  oldest  people  now  living 
there  I  presume  knew  my  father,  who  was  born  in  that  town,  and  died 
there  in  1870.  My  brother.  R.  E.  Warner,  was  the  last  one  of  our 
family  who  was  left  there.  My  native  land  is  still  dear  to  me;  altho'  I 
have  left  it  I  would  like  to  visit  it. 

"Yes,  my  native  land,  I  love  thee, 
All  thy  scenes,  I  love  them  well." 

My  childhood's  hours  were    spent  there, — some   of    the  happiest  of 
my  life ; 

'  'Friends,  connexions,  happy  country, 
Can  I  say  a  last,  farewell, 
Can  I  leave  thee, 
Far  in  distant  lands  to  dwell." 

Mv  90th  birthday  was  celebrated  here.     J  don't  know  as  you  can  read 
this — can't  see  to  follow  lines.     Please  overlook  all  mistakes. 

Yours  truly, 

NANCY  WARNER  SNOW 


MEMORIAL  TABLETS  IN  TOWN  HALL, 

CONTAINING 

NAMES     OF     SOLDIERS     FROM     NEW     BRAINTREE 
IN    THE    CIVIL    WAR. 


ROLL  OF  HONOR. 


SECOND  REGIMENT. 
James  Butler,  Company  E. 

FIFTEENTH  REGIMENT. 
Josiah  Converse,  Company  F. 
Richard  T.  Davis,       "         " 
Sergt.  Geo.  A.  Davis,"         " 

Killed  Oct.  14,  1863. 
Harrison  S.  Lamb,  Company  F. 
Sidney  Smith,  Jr.,  "         " 

Killed  Oct.  21,  1863,  Ball's  Bluff,  Va. 

SIXTEENTH  REGIMENT. 
John  Birmingham,  Company  E. 
Samuel  E.  Judkins,      "         " 

TWENTY-FIRST  REGIMENT. 
Wm.  Jerome,  Company  K. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. 
Sergt.  Henry  H.   Bush,  Company  B. 

Prisoner  6  months  and  10  days 
First  Lieut.  Lyman  A.  Holmes,  Company  C. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT. 
Charles  I.   Wetiierell,  Company  I. 

Killed  June  18,  1864. 
George  Cooley,  Company  C. 
Wilfred  Plant,  "         H. 


104  ANNIVERSARY    OF    NEW    BRAINTREE. 

TWENTY-SIXTH  REGIMENT. 
Emile  Meyer,  Company  K. 

THIRTY-FIRST  REGIMENT. 
Alfred  Barrett,  Company  G. 
William  Hunter.     6th  Battery  Light  Artillery, 

THIRTY-FOURTH  REGIMENT. 
Nahum  Ayers,  Company  D. 
Christopher  Goddard,  Company  G. 
Peter  MyCue,  Company  G. 

THIRTY-SIXTH  REGIMENT. 
Daniel  W.  Dean,  Company  K. 
Died,  1862. 

FIFTY  FIRST   REGIMENT. 
Lorin  S.  Barlow,  Company  A. 

Died  May  17,  1863. 
Alfred  D.  Barr,  Company  A. 
Albert  A.  Thresher,  "         " 
George  Woods,  Company  A. 
Michael  Bowen,         "        F. 

Re-enlisted  in  57th  Regiment  for  3  years. 

FIFTY-THIRD    REGIMENT. 
Franklin  D.   Brigham,  Company  K. 
Benjamin  Fag  an. 
Theodore  S.  Pierce,  Company  F. 

Died  May  11,  1863,  at  Birwick  Bay,  La. 
Elisiia  S.  Randall,  Company  F. 

Died  April  25,  1863,  at  Baton  Rouge,  La. 
George  Knight,  Company  F. 

Killed  at  Port  Hudson,  June  14.  1863. 

FORTY-SECOND  REGIMENT. 
Brigham  Peirce,  Company  K. 

FIFTY-FIRST   REGIMENT. 
Rlfus  Boyden,  Company  A. 
Died  Aug.  5,  1863. 


TABLETS.  105 

TWENTY-FIRST  REGIMENT. 
Oliver  P.  Judkins,  Company  K. 

FIFTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENT. 
Charles  H.  Barnes,  Company   F. 
John  Corbet,  "         E. 

Died  May  6,  1864,  at  Wilderness,  Va. 
Michael  McCarty,  Company  E. 
Charles  H.  Parker,       "  kk 

James  N.  Needham,        "         K. 

Q.   M.  46tb  Regiment.     Re-enlisted  May  10,  1864,  in 
Company  K,  57th  Regiment. 

FIRST  CAVALRY. 
David  D.  Peirce. 

VETERAN  RESERVE  CORPS. 
John   Bavell,  Regular  Army. 
Thomas  Conners,  11th  Infantry. 

SECOND  CAVALRY. 
Charles  Jones. 

SIXTIETH  REGIMENT. 
A.   Woodcock,  Company  F. 

Alfred  D.   Green,  Company  D.     8th  Illinois  Infantry. 
Died  June,  1862,  in  St.  Louis  Gen.  Hospital. 

TWENTIETH  IOWA  REGIMENT. 
John  D.  Fobes,  Company  F. 

FORTY-SECOND  REGIMENT. 
George  F.  Vaughn,  Company  H. 


